SECOND SUNDAY
OF ADVENT – A – 2022
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On the second Sunday of Advent a new character is introduced
to us, it is John the Baptist
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Who is John? “A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his
paths
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John is that voice that cries out in the
wilderness. There are many kinds of deserts, John preaches in the geographic
desert, but especially in the desert of human hearts.
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Let’s see what message today’s readings bring
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Last week the readings spoke of an end, today the readings
invite us to look with hope towards the future
FIRST READING -Is 11: 1-10
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Chapter 11 of Isaiah has two oracles
joined by the reference to the stump and root of Jesse. Today we will read the
first Oracle which has a very attractive beauty.
·
It begins saying “on that day” we do
not know the date of that day
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What will happen on that day?
Something very encouraging, a bud , a branch on
the stump of Jesse.
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Why, is that encouraging? From the
family of Jesse, the family of David, we can see a new stem sprouting up.
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From this stem that seemed dry, like
it happens so many times in nature, from this dry stem life springs again. We thought that it did not exist anymore. Is
it not this, that is happening in our society and above all in our beloved
church? Let us look with eyes of faith and we will see probably that something
new is already being born around us
·
The Spirit of the Lord in his many
manifestations rests upon this stem.
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He has the gifts of wisdom,
understanding, counsel and fortitude, gifts that the kings need to govern and
the judges to judge with justice.
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He will not judge by appearance,
nor by hearsay shall he decide, but according to the truth.
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He will protect or do justice to the
helpless, symbolized in the widow and the orphan who were the poorest members
of the people.
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The prophet says that this stem will
wound the violent and the wicked. I think that he wants to say that his just and
peaceful words and acts defeat the proud and in some way He will make them
understand that conversion is the true way.
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After that, the prophet describes or
paints a society and a creation wholly exempt of violence and having a life
that seems too good to be true. However,
these images give a description of the Kingdom that God offers to us, where
there will be no divisions only peace and harmony.
RESPONSORIA PSALML: Sal 71: 1-2. 7-8. 12-13. 17
R. (cf.
7) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness
of peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
he shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for
ever.
Justice
shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness
of peace for ever.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help
him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be
blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for
ever.
ü This is a
beautiful psalm; it is a prayer for the king.
ü It describes
what the first reading says: peace, justice, righteousness… It is a prayer for
those who govern us so that we may live in peace, fraternity, and happiness.
ü I have asked
myself many times, do we pray for our leaders? As disciples of Jesus we know
that those who govern us are our brothers and sisters. Prayer i sour duty since
we are all children of the same Father, God.
This prayer is also beneficial to us. Let us pray so that our political,
social and religious leaders truly encounter the Lord and open their hearts to
Him.
SECOND READING -Rom 15: 4-9
v Paul says that
everything that has been written in the sacred books, that is the Old
Testament, has been written for us, so that we may keep our hope.
v The second
paragraph is a prayer an invitation to praise God with one mind and one
voice.
v Is this the way
we pray, or on the contrary our hearts are divided, separated, full of
resentment toward our brothers and sisters?
v Paul invites us
to welcome each other, as He, the Lord, has welcomed all of us, and he has put
himself to the service of the Jewish people, thus fulfilling the promises.
v If we could
live in this way, accepting and loving each other as we are, if we were always
welcoming and willing to serve whoever requests a service from us, those who do
not believe would discover Jesus the Lord, the Creator, the Redeemer.
GOSPEL Mt 3: 1-12
Today the evangelist Matthew introduces to us the person of
John the Baptist and describes some facets of John.
John is a prophet in the style of Elijah, who we encounter in
the book of Samuel.
John is strong, he announces punishment for those who do not
want to abandon their evil ways.
He looks impressive, clothed with a cloth made of camel skin
and his nourishment is from what he finds in the desert.
His voice is loud and threatening. He is not afraid or at
least, does not make it seen, since he confronts the religious authorities of
his people to denounce their works and their hypocrisy.
He invites to prepare the way for the Lord. It is not a
physical way, it is the way to the human heart; yes, we need to prepare our
heart, each one or us knows what our heart needs to welcome the Lord.
We must make the crooked ways straight, fill up what is empty
and lower what is too high, so that the way may really be smooth, and our heart
be a place of peace, welcoming and humility
John announces that the one that comes after him will baptize
in Spirit and fire.
CLARETIAN CORNER
The words I spoke to the people were for all the peoples
that had been since then, are today and will be tomorrow because in me there is
neither past nor future, because everything is present to me, and speaking to
those few men I was speaking to all, and what I said to them I said to each one
of the Christians in particular, those that have been, those that are and those
that will be until the day of the Last Judgment. Of the words I addressed to
the Apostles, some were for the people, and others were for themselves; those that were for the people contained the
whole Law that they had to teach
preaching to every creature in the whole world[1]
until the Last Judgment without distinction of times and places because I bore
in mind all the times and places (From the Diario of María Antonia París, 35)
What is lacking
then, my Mother? Would you perhaps avail yourself of some instrument with which
to remedy so great an evil? Here is one who however vile and contemptible he
knows himself to be, is yet assured that he will serve the better for this end,
since your power will shine forth all the brighter, and all will see that it is
you who are at work, not I. Come now, loving Mother, let us lose no time. Here
I am: dispose of me as you will, for you know that I am wholly yours. I trust
that you will do this out of your great kindness, pity, and mercy, and I ask
you this through the love you bear for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. (From the Autobiography of
St. Anthony Mary Claret , 156.)
