SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT - CYCLE A - DECEMBER 4, 2016

ü  The theme of this second Sunday of Advent is peace

ü  Peace in an idyllic  society described with beautiful images by the prophet Isaiah

ü  Peace which is the consequence of conversion to the Lord

FIRST READING  - Is 11:1-10

v  In the liturgy of this second Sunday we read from the book of the prophet Isaiah 

v  It speaks of a time when everything will be good because a bud will blossom from the stump of Jesse.   

v  That is, the prophecy made by the Lord to David through the prophet Nathan will be fulfilled "I will build a house for you..." 

v  It is a time of joy because God does not forget his promises.  

v  The vocabulary used in this reading opens us up to life, to hope, to joy: will blossom, justice, evil will be destroyed, the gentiles will seek this new bud, and everything will be peace on the holy mountain. 

v  Upon this bud, which is Jesus, the Spirit of the Lord will rest with all his gifts. 

ü  And thus he will not judge by appearance, but in truth  

ü  He will judge the poor with justice, this is not what normally happens among us human beings  

ü  he will eliminate evil  

ü  He will gird himself with justice and faithfulness    

v  After this presentation of the new bud from the stump of Jesse, Isaiah describes an ideal way of life, which reminds us of the paradise described in the book of Genesis, when God in the evenings used to come down and walk peacefully with his creature-child-human being. 

v  In the society which will be born from the presence and welcoming of this new bud  

ü  Those who are contraries or enemies will live peacefully and friendly together: they will eat, play... their children will play and rest together. 

ü  Peace and goodness shall be such in this new society that the children will lead the wild animals, and a baby will play at the cobra's den.  

v  In this new society there will be no destruction, no harm because the whole creation will be filled with the presence of the Lord.  

v  Jesus is this bud over whom the Spirit of God rests because he is the Second Person of the Trinity, who has come to live among us to teach how to be brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. 

v  COME LORD JESUS and give us the strength and the wish to tear down the walls that separate us, give strangers the strength to live together, and to discover that you are present in every human being, give us the will to live in harmony and peace in our homes, work place and faith community.   

RESPONSORIAL PSALM   Ps.72 

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.

      The psalmist prays that God may give the king the necessary  gifts to promote justice and peace. 

      Maybe our problem is that we do not pray for those who govern us, to pray for them and for all who are in any kind of leadership, so that power does not blind them. 

GOSPEL Mt 3:1-12

Ø  John the Baptist appears in the horizon of Advent 

Ø  John preaches and calls people to repentance, to forgiveness.

Ø  The evangelist describes John as a man who lives with austerity; his voice is strong and threatening for those who do not accept the coming of the one who is to come. 

Ø  Matthew says that John is the one that Isaiah announced "A voice cries out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord.

Ø  In spite of his fearful appearance, John attracts large crowds that come to listen to his words and to be baptized in the Jordan waters, as a sign of conversion, and of the willingness to change their lives. 

Ø  John speaks frankly and says terrible things: do not trust in appearances, do not trust in titles, do not trust in false securities, even these stones can become children of Abraham. What does all of this mean for us followers of Jesus of the XXI century? 

Ø  Is that a call for us to live in the truth of who we are? 

·         The truth of our baptism, of being baptized into the life of Christ, the Son of God. 

·         The truth of a real and true relationship, not made of mere words and false securities: "I am Catholic" "I go to mass every day" "I think of the poor in Thanksgiving and at Christmas"  "I give toys to the children of the poor, sometimes they are new and sometimes there are the toys our children do not want anymore", "I have the right not to forgive my enemy, to keep that grudge in my heart because they have hurt me..."    

·         Each one of us may complete this list of excuses 

Ø  John announces a baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire. This is our baptism, the one we received when we were children or maybe adults. Our baptism continues to act in our life every day. 

Ø  Let us listen to the invitation that the Church makes to us in this second Sunday of Advent. Let us listen to the voice of John who invites us to conversion to be able to follow the one of whom he cannot unfasten the sandals. Then our life will be as it is described in the first reading, full of peace and joy.

SECOND READING   Rm 15:4-9

§  Paul writes to his community and tells us that what has been written, has been written for our instruction. 

§  So that with the encouragement given by Scripture we may hope.  How is our hope? 

§  Then Paul exhorts to live according to the way that Isaiah describes, which will be when we accept the Messiah. 

§  The Messiah has come, he is in our midst "he put his tent among us, and walks with us" this is Jesus the Carpenter from Nazareth, whom we know to be the  incarnate Son of the Father

§  Paul  tells us "welcome one another, as Christ welcomes you, and do this for the glory of God.  

§  Christ preached to the circumcised, the Jews, to make present to us the faithfulness of God to his promises, so that the uncircumcised may glorify God. 

§  We may change the word circumcised by baptized.  Let us live as the first reading and the Gospel invite us so that those who do not believe, those who left the Church,  the unbelievers may come to the light, not the light of the city of Jerusalem, but of the Church, to be able to live a relationship of profound intimacy with the Lord and among us .

POST-SYNODAL  APOSTOLIC  EXHORTATION AMORIS  LÆTITIA

OF  POPE FRANCIS

Love is not jealous

Saint Paul goes on to reject as contrary to love an attitude expressed by the verb zelói – to be jealous or envious.  This means that love has no room for discomfiture at another person’s good fortune (cf. Acts 7:9; 17:5).  Envy is a form of sadness provoked by another’s prosperity; it shows that we are not concerned for the happiness of others but only with our own well-being.  Whereas love makes us rise above ourselves, envy closes us in on ourselves.  True love values the other person’s achievements.  It does not see him or her as a threat.  It frees us from the sour taste of envy.  It recognizes that everyone has different gifts and a unique path in life.  So it strives to discover its own road to happiness, while allowing others to find theirs.

In a word, love means fulfilling the last two commandments of God’s Law: “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s” (Ex 20:17).  Love inspires a sincere esteem for every human being and the recognition of his or her own right to happiness.  I love this person, and I see him or her with the eyes of God, who gives us everything “for our enjoyment” (1 Tim 6:17).  As a result, I feel a deep sense of happiness and peace.  This same deeply rooted love also leads me to reject the injustice whereby some possess too much and others too little.  It moves me to find ways of helping society’s outcasts to find a modicum of joy.  That is not envy, but the desire for equality. (95-96) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

 PAGOLA, José Antonio. El Camino abierto por JESUS. 2012.

POPE FRANCIS, POST-SYNODAL  APOSTOLIC  EXHORTATION AMORIS  LÆTITIA