Bulletin December 8, 2013

2^nd Sunday of Advent A

Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3: 1-12
Today is the patronal feast of the United States that of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Because today is a Sunday in Advent, this feast of Mary is transferred to tomorrow, Monday. Today the readings are preparing each person for letting God through Jesus and the Spirit reign in each person’s heart. Am I letting this happen?
John the Baptist starts this off like a glass of ice water hitting me in the face or to the world, like a meteor slamming into earth. He shouts at me: ‘The Messiah is here! The Reign of God is at hand! Wake up! Change! Get moving! Do something!’ So in astonishment I ask, ‘What is happening?’ Why the hurry? Who is this Messiah?’ And if I was saying this to the Baptist he would say, ‘What world are you living in? Haven’t you been paying attention? Forever it has been promised us through the prophets that the Messiah, the Promised One, would come and the time in NOW.’ How would I respond to this? These same readings have been proclaimed every three years in cycle A. So that means that I have been hearing these readings about twenty times during my 70 + years. Am I taking them seriously? Let me look at these readings in a very serious tone that will help me this season.
The first reading from Isaiah is one of my favorite Old Testament Readings and one of the great messianic prophecies. Now the people were expecting the messiah who would be from the family of David. Now Isaiah’s experience with the kings of his day left much to be desired. King Ahaz didn’t trust what God said even when Isaiah offered to confirm what God was saying with any sign that the king suggested. King Hezekiah looked on the Bible favorably but he had a real problem in his loyalty to God. Knowing that these two kings certainly didn’t have any messianic qualities, Isaiah had to look to a brighter future which is what he does in prophesying the messiah, an ideal king rising within the dynasty of David. What makes this future king so ideal is that “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.” As the New Jerome Biblical Commentary says, “Yahweh’s spirit was a divine force given to individuals to enable them to fulfill missions otherwise beyond them, as in the case of Moses (Numbers 11:17), the judges (Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29), prophets (Micah 3:8), David (1 Samuel 16:13), and others this king would represent a return to the charismatic tradition so long an ideal in Israel.” AND WHAT gifts would the Spirit give...the same gifts that are bestowed in the Sacrament of Confirmation. They are mentioned in pairs in Isaiah: intellectual gifts – wisdom and understanding; practical gifts – counsel and strength; and religious gifts – spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord. The last gift is listed as piety but literally ‘fear of the Lord’, so this is listed twice. THIS IS THE ORIGIN OF THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
What is the importance of these to me? Well what makes this prophetic new king so ideal to Isaiah is his total cooperation with the Spirit of God, as seen in the acceptance of the gifts received from that Spirit. This king will not be swayed by appearances and hearsay. His decision will be guided by justice and righteousness. Now these gifts I have been given in Confirmation...the gifts are present...have I accepted them? Am I living like I am in possession of these gifts? Am I aware that as a result of my Baptism I have been called and chosen to use my Spirit gifts and all the other gifts that the Spirit has loaded on me through the years to be Jesus and draw people closer to God?

Jesus said that you will ‘know a healthy tree by the fruit that it bears’. So in letting the Spirit work in me and in accepting the gifts so graciously given means that if I exercise these gifts, if I use these gifts people should be able to see in my life their FRUITS. So what are the fruits of the Holy Spirit? The Catholic Catechism says,

“The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: charity...joy...peace... patience...kindness...goodness...generosity...

gentleness...faithfulness...modesty...self-control...chastity.”
So what do I have to wake up and do? Live the gifts ... do I see their fruits in my life? Am I more charitable than I was five years ago? Am I more joyful in being alive and seeing that it is by God’s power and grace that life is worth living? Am I more at peace...if not, what am I allowing to take my peace away? Am I more patient or is in ‘my way or the highway’...I never saw this attitude in Jesus. Am I more kind to the ‘difficult people’; am I more understanding to them’? Do I see that I have gifts to help or do I close myself off? Do people see deep down goodness in me; which means that I have to be satisfied in what God has given me and grateful too. Am I gentle? It is very easy to ‘fly off the handle’ but what good does this do to the person who is watching? Am I faithful in my faith journey and to my religious obligations? Am I faithful to my God? Am I modest in my life style, in my attitude, in my working as ‘God’s helper’? Do I have control over those areas that ‘set me off’ or where I have a ‘thin skin’? What good does it do for people to see in me what they never have seen Jesus do in His life? Am I chaste?
Are these practical YES! Do they need my attention YES! Is this what John the Baptist means when he says, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” YES it is...I can say, ‘I’m, sorry’ but what good is that if I do not change what I was wrong in doing? Is this what Isaiah means when I am to “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths” Yes it is because the person in front of me is the person in need and if I am not preparing them then I’m not a follower of Jesus. I am negligent in loving.
Fr. David Knight in Living God’s Word says “St. Paul teaches that the source of our unity as a community is our common effort and encouragement of each other to live out what we believer. We will neither always agree on what we should do nor succeed in doing it; but if we have patience and encourage one another, we will be able to live in harmony ‘in accordance with Christ Jesus.’ To accept our humanness means accepting ourselves as imperfect and incomplete yet intended to grow toward perfection. Jesus, this shoot growing up from the ‘stump of Jesse,’ represents God’s power acting in human events; this gives us hope.’”

So I reflect on Sacred Space 2013:

• “I may feel uncomfortable when confronted with John’s call to repentance, but I let myself listen, acknowledging that I am a sinner in need of God’s mercy. If I cannot admit this, Advent is not for me.
• God does not want me to passively receive the Word. I work with God, preparing the way in my life, expectant and hopefully watching for God’s approach.”