2d Sunday of Advent
Dec. 4, 2016
Matt 3: 1-12
Holy Cross, Champaign, Ill.
“John
the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’” (Matt 3: 1-2).
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| John the Baptist preaching by Alessandro Allori |
The
earliest announcements of the Good News of Christ our Savior began by recalling
to listeners the preaching of John the Baptist.
The preaching samples that we find in the Acts of the Apostles show
this, and so do the beginnings of the written gospels of Mark and John. Likewise, Matthew and Luke introduce the
public ministry of Jesus with John’s preaching of repentance and readiness,
after 1st preparing their readers for Jesus with the fascinating stories of his
birth.
So
John appears in the desert regions near the Jordan River—appears out of
nowhere, as it were, altho St. John’s Gospel says explicitly that he was sent by
God (1:6).
John
the Baptist’s message is, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” When Jesus starts his preaching, he’ll
deliver the same message. When the
apostles go forth with the Good News after Jesus’ resurrection, repentance will
be their starting point too. Evidently
it’s something fundamental to the mission of Jesus, which is our redemption.
What
does repentance mean? The Greek word the gospels use means
literally a “change of mind,” a change of outlook, a turning around of oneself,
a conversion. Beyond that interior change of our hearts,
repentance or conversion demands exterior
change. John scolds the Pharisees and
Sadducees who come to him at the Jordan: “Produce good fruit as evidence of your
repentance” (Matt 3:8). As we say, you’ve
got to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.
Advent,
this season of preparation for the coming of the Lord, is a challenge for us,
too, to repent; to get ready for Christ’s coming by conversion, by changing our
evil behaviors into “good fruit,” into virtue.
Advent reminds us not only that Christ has come in history thru his
birth at Bethlehem but also that he will come again at the end of history as
the universal judge—as the judge of my words,
actions, thoughts, and omissions. In his
daily homily on 11/22, Pope Francis cautioned:
“If you do not take care of your heart so that the Lord is with you, and
you always live far from the Lord, perhaps there is this danger, the danger of
continuing to be distanced from the Lord for all of eternity.”[1]
If I have good fruit to present to him
as evidence that he owns my heart, he’ll invite me into the kingdom of heaven
that he has established; or, as John the Baptist says, I’ll be part of the
wheat that Jesus will harvest into his barn (3:12).
What
evil behaviors do we need to change?
What conversion in us would prepare a way for the Lord to come into our
lives (cf. 3:3); or to be present in us in a more obvious way?
Isaiah
and the responsorial psalm gives some suggestions of the good fruit we should
be producing: justice and care for the
poor and afflicted.
Justice: Do we treat people fairly? Do we judge people fairly? Without regard to race or ethnicity, gender
or social standing, religion or political persuasion? Do we forgive injuries rather than hold
grudges or seek payback?
Care
for the poor and afflicted: What do we
actually do for the poor, the unfortunate,
people driven from their homes by war or natural disasters, or for the
hungry, the homeless, the unemployed, the sick?
Maybe
our repentance needs to address the ways in which we speak about
others—gossiping fault-finding, bearing false witness. Or perhaps the ways we use our time at
work. Or the attention we give to our
spouse and children. Or what we view on
TV or the computer and what that does to our minds.
So
there are external behaviors or visible fruits that we may need to be concerned
about if we want Jesus to rule us.
But
let me return to the root meaning of “repent” in John’s preaching. The word, as I said, means “change of mind,”
change of attitude, change of outlook.
An interior change of heart or a conversion is required if we’re going
to change our outward words and actions.
To offer a personal example, if I wish my words to be kinder, gentler,
less sarcastic, then I have to address the arrogant tendencies of my soul and
be converted from them toward the spirit of Jesus. I have “to put on the Lord Jesus,” as St.
Paul says (Rom 13:14); have “the same attitude that Christ Jesus had,” as Paul
also says, an attitude of humility (Phil 2:5,8).
To
the extent that we personally repent and are converted to Christ-like words and
actions flowing from a Christ-like heart, “the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matt
3:2). To that extent Christ rules in our
families, workplaces, city streets, and government buildings. To that extent the vision of the prophet
Isaiah of the Messiah’s reign will be closer to realization (cf. Is 11:10). How many times a day do we pray, “Thy kingdom
come”? May it come to your heart and
mine, brothers and sisters, and from there to the world around us!
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