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2nd Sunday of Advent (Cycle C) – December 6, 2009 Scripture Readings First Baruch 5:1-9 Second Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11 Gospel Luke 3:1-6 Prepared by: Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P. 1. Subject Matter ·
Advent graces: the removal of mourning and misery; repentance for forgiveness of sins; rough ways made smooth; we are remembered by God; advancement secure in the glory of God
·
The predisposition for the Word of God to come to us
·
The righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ
2. Exegetical Notes ·
“Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on the splendor of glory from God forever…. For God is leading Israel by the light of his glory…with his mercy:” “There is a connection between the lack of obedience to the commandments and the evils thee people suffer in their captivity…. Using expressions from Isaiah, the prophet addresses Jerusalem and urges her to gaze joyfully on her sons and daughters as they return from captivity. Attention is directed to the change the happy return effects in Jerusalem.” (The International Bible Commentary)
·
“The one who began the good work in you will continue to complete until the day of Christ Jesus…. My prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception…so that you may be…filled with the fruit of righteousness.” “Their progress and growth in union with Christ is to bring an increased personal knowledge of the Christian reality, marked by a refined and keen awareness of its meaning.” (Joseph Fitzmyer)
·
“John went throughout the whole region…proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins:” “John the Baptist preached a unique baptism, a washing of preparation for the coming of God’s salvation. Such preparation involved a change of thinking that in turn changed the way one lived before God. John’s ministry reflects the repetition of a basic salvation pattern of God, a second exodus. It fulfills the promise of a voice calling the people to prepare of God’s powerful coming in salvation. Those who wish to see God’s hand must be prepared to listen for him. Part of that readiness means knowing one’s real spiritual status
before God and having a sense of humility that drives one to see God’s forgiveness.” (Darrell L. Bock) 3. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church ·
229 Faith in God leads us to turn to him alone as our first origin and our ultimate goal, and neither to prefer anything to him nor to substitute anything for him.
·
2700 Through his Word, God speaks to man. By words, mental or vocal, our prayer takes flesh.
·
1991 Justification is at the same time the acceptance of God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness (or "justice") here means the rectitude of divine love. With justification, faith, hope, and charity are poured into our hearts, and obedience to the divine will is granted us.
·
1992 Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy.
·
719 John the Baptist is "more than a prophet." In him, the Holy Spirit concludes his speaking through the prophets. John completes the cycle of prophets begun by Elijah. He proclaims the imminence of the consolation of Israel; he is the "voice" of the Consoler who is coming. As the Spirit of truth will also do, John "came to bear witness to the light." In John's sight, the Spirit thus brings to completion the careful search of the prophets and fulfills the longing of the angels. "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. . . . Behold, the Lamb of God."
4. Patristic Commentary and Other Authorities ·
St. Ambrose: “The Son of God being about to gather together the Church, commences His work in His servant. And so it is well said, The word, of the Lord came to John, that the Church should begin not from man, but from the Word. But Luke, in order to declare that John was a prophet, rightly used these few words, The word of the Lord came to him. He adds nothing else, for they need not their own judgment who are filled with the Word of God. By saying this one thing, he has therefore declared all. But Matthew and Mark desired to show him to be a prophet, by his raiment, his girdle, and his food.”
·
St. Gregory the Great: “John the Baptist’s words prepared the way for the Redeemer’s actual presence.”
·
St. Cyril of Alexandria: “Faith in Christ is the highest form of repentance.”
·
St. Edith Stein: “By righteousness the Scriptures mean perfection, the condition of the justified person who is made right again as she or he was before the Fall. By taking on the garment of righteousness, we thus oblige ourselves to strive for perfection with all our strength and to preserve the holy garment intact.”
·
Mechthild of Magdeburg: “Lord, your righteousness leads directly into the living truth and gives me unspeakable joy. For wherever righteousness enters, truth rejoices.”
·
Thomas Merton: “Advent means a readiness to have eternity and time meet not only in Christ but in us, in our life, in our world, in our time. If we are to enter into the beginning of the new, we must accept the death of the old….I begin to live to Christ when I come to the ‘end’ or to the ‘limit’ of what divides me from my fellow man: when I am willing to step beyond this end, cross the frontier, become a stranger, enter into the wilderness which is not ‘myself,’…where I am alone and defenseless in the desert of God.”
·
A.J. Mohler: “I think I could not go on living if I stopped hearing Him speak.”
5. Examples from the Saints and Other Exemplars ·
St. Juan Diego (December 9): Juan Diego’s parents died when he was a young boy (a fact similar to John the Baptist whose parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, were elderly when he was born). He converted to Christianity from Aztec paganism shortly after the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521. When the Word of God came to him in the womb of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Juan Diego had been living in a kind of “desert” of his own: he was as poor as the lowest class; his wife Maria Lucia had died in 1529; he had no children; he was getting on in age (he was 57). Offering his own self-assessment to the Lady who appeared to him, Juan Diego said, “I exceedingly beg, Lady and my Child, that you entrust the delivery of your message to someone of importance, well known, respected, and esteemed, so that they may believe in him; because I am a nobody, I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a leaf.” Yet, when Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan on December 9, 1531, she commissioned him to go to the bishop of Mexico (Juan de Zumarraga) with her request that a temple be built on the spot of the apparition. Bishop Zumarraga had been deeply worried about the condition of the Faith in the newly converted country; he stated, “If God does not provide a remedy from his hand, this land is about to be lost.” In sending Juan Diego to Bishop Zumarraga, she instructed him, “You will tell him how I sent you. You will tell him everything, all that you have seen and admired, and what you have heard.” Mexican parents have long expressed their best blessing by saying, “May God make you like Juan Diego.”
6. Quotations from Pope Benedict XVI ·
“Righteousness in the language of the Old Covenant is the term for fidelity to the Torah, to the Word of God. It is the observance of the right path shown by God. Faith is walking with Christ, in whom the whole Law is fulfilled; it unites us with the righteousness of Christ himself.”
·
“‘Advent’ means: God is here, he hasn't retired to his world, he hasn't left us alone. Advent invites and stimulates us to contemplate the Lord present. It is a favorable occasion for our salvation. Hope signals the path for humanity, and for Christians. This is encouraged by a certainty: the Lord is present in our lives. Live the present intensely and project it towards the future. In this way the Christian Advent becomes occasion for a reawakening of the true meaning of expectation in us, returning to the heart of our faith that the mystery of Christ, the much awaited Messiah. And if Jesus is present there no longer exists any time without meaning and empty. If He is present, we can continue to hope even when others can no longer assure us of support, even when the present becomes difficult. Advent is a time of the presence and the expectation in the eternal.Exactly for this reason, it is... the time of joy, an internalized joy, that no suffering can negate. Joy because God is made child."
·
“Let us gaze on John the Baptist. Challenging and active he stands before us, a ‘type’ of the manly vocation. In harsh terms he demands mentanoia, a radical transformation of attitudes. Those who would be Christians must be “transformed” ever again. Our natural disposition, indeed, finds us always ready to assert ourselves to pay like with like, to put ourselves at the center. Those who want to find God need, again and again, that inner conversion, that new direction. And this applies also to the total outlook on life. But in order to have a living awareness of this, we need conversion, we need to turn around inside, as it were, to overcome the illusion of what is visible, and to develop the feeling, the ears and the eyes, for what is invisible. This has to be more important than anything that bombards us day after day with such exaggerated urgency. Metanoeite: change your attitude, so that God may dwell in you and, through you, in the world. John himself was not spared this painful process of change, of turning around.”
·
“The Virgin Mary fully incarnates the humanity that lives in hope based on faith in the living God. She is the Virgin of Advent; she is well-rooted in the present, in the ‘today’ of salvation; she keeps in her heart all the past promises; and they extend to future fulfillment. Let us enter her school, to truly enter this time of grace and to welcome, with joy and responsibility, the coming of God to our personal and social history.”
·
A most amazing thing: John repeats the very same words that God once uttered to captive Israel: “Every valley shall be filled; every mountain will be made low.” That is the Event that the Baptist prophesies. That is the promise that God is going to fulfill.
7. Other Considerations ·
The Gospel says that “the Word of God came to John in the desert.” What does this mean? What form did this coming of the Word take? And what are the implications of this coming of the Word for John the Baptist? Obviously, it changed the way he looked at reality. It gave him a new judgment regarding life. He “went throughout the whole region…proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” That is, John recognized a possibility where before there was only resignation and fatalism. The Word of God that came to God imbued him with the certainty that there is a way out of our persistent state of “mourning and misery.” The Answer is this Word who came to John. And the key is to be as disposed to the coming of the Word as was the Baptist. In this respect, John’s placement “in the desert” is key.
Recommended Resources Benedict XVI, Pope. Benedictus. Yonkers: Magnificat, 2006. Biblia Clerus: http://www.clerus.org/bibliaclerus/index_eng.html Cameron, Peter John. To Praise, To Bless, To Preach—Cycle C. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 2000. Hahn, Scott: http://www.salvationhistory.com/library/scripture/churchandbible/homilyhelps/homilyhelps.cfm. Martin, Francis: http://www.hasnehmedia.com/homilies.shtml
Advent graces: the removal of mourning and misery; repentance for forgiveness of sins; rough ways made smooth; we are remembered by God; advancement secure in the glory of God
·
The predisposition for the Word of God to come to us
·
The righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ
2. Exegetical Notes ·
“Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on the splendor of glory from God forever…. For God is leading Israel by the light of his glory…with his mercy:” “There is a connection between the lack of obedience to the commandments and the evils thee people suffer in their captivity…. Using expressions from Isaiah, the prophet addresses Jerusalem and urges her to gaze joyfully on her sons and daughters as they return from captivity. Attention is directed to the change the happy return effects in Jerusalem.” (The International Bible Commentary)
·
“The one who began the good work in you will continue to complete until the day of Christ Jesus…. My prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception…so that you may be…filled with the fruit of righteousness.” “Their progress and growth in union with Christ is to bring an increased personal knowledge of the Christian reality, marked by a refined and keen awareness of its meaning.” (Joseph Fitzmyer)
·
“John went throughout the whole region…proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins:” “John the Baptist preached a unique baptism, a washing of preparation for the coming of God’s salvation. Such preparation involved a change of thinking that in turn changed the way one lived before God. John’s ministry reflects the repetition of a basic salvation pattern of God, a second exodus. It fulfills the promise of a voice calling the people to prepare of God’s powerful coming in salvation. Those who wish to see God’s hand must be prepared to listen for him. Part of that readiness means knowing one’s real spiritual status
before God and having a sense of humility that drives one to see God’s forgiveness.” (Darrell L. Bock) 3. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church ·
229 Faith in God leads us to turn to him alone as our first origin and our ultimate goal, and neither to prefer anything to him nor to substitute anything for him.
·
2700 Through his Word, God speaks to man. By words, mental or vocal, our prayer takes flesh.
·
1991 Justification is at the same time the acceptance of God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness (or "justice") here means the rectitude of divine love. With justification, faith, hope, and charity are poured into our hearts, and obedience to the divine will is granted us.
·
1992 Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy.
·
719 John the Baptist is "more than a prophet." In him, the Holy Spirit concludes his speaking through the prophets. John completes the cycle of prophets begun by Elijah. He proclaims the imminence of the consolation of Israel; he is the "voice" of the Consoler who is coming. As the Spirit of truth will also do, John "came to bear witness to the light." In John's sight, the Spirit thus brings to completion the careful search of the prophets and fulfills the longing of the angels. "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. . . . Behold, the Lamb of God."
4. Patristic Commentary and Other Authorities ·
St. Ambrose: “The Son of God being about to gather together the Church, commences His work in His servant. And so it is well said, The word, of the Lord came to John, that the Church should begin not from man, but from the Word. But Luke, in order to declare that John was a prophet, rightly used these few words, The word of the Lord came to him. He adds nothing else, for they need not their own judgment who are filled with the Word of God. By saying this one thing, he has therefore declared all. But Matthew and Mark desired to show him to be a prophet, by his raiment, his girdle, and his food.”
·
St. Gregory the Great: “John the Baptist’s words prepared the way for the Redeemer’s actual presence.”
·
St. Cyril of Alexandria: “Faith in Christ is the highest form of repentance.”
·
St. Edith Stein: “By righteousness the Scriptures mean perfection, the condition of the justified person who is made right again as she or he was before the Fall. By taking on the garment of righteousness, we thus oblige ourselves to strive for perfection with all our strength and to preserve the holy garment intact.”
·
Mechthild of Magdeburg: “Lord, your righteousness leads directly into the living truth and gives me unspeakable joy. For wherever righteousness enters, truth rejoices.”
·
Thomas Merton: “Advent means a readiness to have eternity and time meet not only in Christ but in us, in our life, in our world, in our time. If we are to enter into the beginning of the new, we must accept the death of the old….I begin to live to Christ when I come to the ‘end’ or to the ‘limit’ of what divides me from my fellow man: when I am willing to step beyond this end, cross the frontier, become a stranger, enter into the wilderness which is not ‘myself,’…where I am alone and defenseless in the desert of God.”
·
A.J. Mohler: “I think I could not go on living if I stopped hearing Him speak.”
5. Examples from the Saints and Other Exemplars ·
St. Juan Diego (December 9): Juan Diego’s parents died when he was a young boy (a fact similar to John the Baptist whose parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, were elderly when he was born). He converted to Christianity from Aztec paganism shortly after the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521. When the Word of God came to him in the womb of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Juan Diego had been living in a kind of “desert” of his own: he was as poor as the lowest class; his wife Maria Lucia had died in 1529; he had no children; he was getting on in age (he was 57). Offering his own self-assessment to the Lady who appeared to him, Juan Diego said, “I exceedingly beg, Lady and my Child, that you entrust the delivery of your message to someone of importance, well known, respected, and esteemed, so that they may believe in him; because I am a nobody, I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a leaf.” Yet, when Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan on December 9, 1531, she commissioned him to go to the bishop of Mexico (Juan de Zumarraga) with her request that a temple be built on the spot of the apparition. Bishop Zumarraga had been deeply worried about the condition of the Faith in the newly converted country; he stated, “If God does not provide a remedy from his hand, this land is about to be lost.” In sending Juan Diego to Bishop Zumarraga, she instructed him, “You will tell him how I sent you. You will tell him everything, all that you have seen and admired, and what you have heard.” Mexican parents have long expressed their best blessing by saying, “May God make you like Juan Diego.”
6. Quotations from Pope Benedict XVI ·
“Righteousness in the language of the Old Covenant is the term for fidelity to the Torah, to the Word of God. It is the observance of the right path shown by God. Faith is walking with Christ, in whom the whole Law is fulfilled; it unites us with the righteousness of Christ himself.”
·
“‘Advent’ means: God is here, he hasn't retired to his world, he hasn't left us alone. Advent invites and stimulates us to contemplate the Lord present. It is a favorable occasion for our salvation. Hope signals the path for humanity, and for Christians. This is encouraged by a certainty: the Lord is present in our lives. Live the present intensely and project it towards the future. In this way the Christian Advent becomes occasion for a reawakening of the true meaning of expectation in us, returning to the heart of our faith that the mystery of Christ, the much awaited Messiah. And if Jesus is present there no longer exists any time without meaning and empty. If He is present, we can continue to hope even when others can no longer assure us of support, even when the present becomes difficult. Advent is a time of the presence and the expectation in the eternal.Exactly for this reason, it is... the time of joy, an internalized joy, that no suffering can negate. Joy because God is made child."
·
“Let us gaze on John the Baptist. Challenging and active he stands before us, a ‘type’ of the manly vocation. In harsh terms he demands mentanoia, a radical transformation of attitudes. Those who would be Christians must be “transformed” ever again. Our natural disposition, indeed, finds us always ready to assert ourselves to pay like with like, to put ourselves at the center. Those who want to find God need, again and again, that inner conversion, that new direction. And this applies also to the total outlook on life. But in order to have a living awareness of this, we need conversion, we need to turn around inside, as it were, to overcome the illusion of what is visible, and to develop the feeling, the ears and the eyes, for what is invisible. This has to be more important than anything that bombards us day after day with such exaggerated urgency. Metanoeite: change your attitude, so that God may dwell in you and, through you, in the world. John himself was not spared this painful process of change, of turning around.”
·
“The Virgin Mary fully incarnates the humanity that lives in hope based on faith in the living God. She is the Virgin of Advent; she is well-rooted in the present, in the ‘today’ of salvation; she keeps in her heart all the past promises; and they extend to future fulfillment. Let us enter her school, to truly enter this time of grace and to welcome, with joy and responsibility, the coming of God to our personal and social history.”
·
A most amazing thing: John repeats the very same words that God once uttered to captive Israel: “Every valley shall be filled; every mountain will be made low.” That is the Event that the Baptist prophesies. That is the promise that God is going to fulfill.
7. Other Considerations ·
The Gospel says that “the Word of God came to John in the desert.” What does this mean? What form did this coming of the Word take? And what are the implications of this coming of the Word for John the Baptist? Obviously, it changed the way he looked at reality. It gave him a new judgment regarding life. He “went throughout the whole region…proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” That is, John recognized a possibility where before there was only resignation and fatalism. The Word of God that came to God imbued him with the certainty that there is a way out of our persistent state of “mourning and misery.” The Answer is this Word who came to John. And the key is to be as disposed to the coming of the Word as was the Baptist. In this respect, John’s placement “in the desert” is key.
Recommended Resources Benedict XVI, Pope. Benedictus. Yonkers: Magnificat, 2006. Biblia Clerus: http://www.clerus.org/bibliaclerus/index_eng.html Cameron, Peter John. To Praise, To Bless, To Preach—Cycle C. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 2000. Hahn, Scott: http://www.salvationhistory.com/library/scripture/churchandbible/homilyhelps/homilyhelps.cfm. Martin, Francis: http://www.hasnehmedia.com/homilies.shtml
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