December 6, 2009 SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
6 DECEMBER 2009, 5:15, 8:00, 10:30
READINGS: Baruch 5:1-9; Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6
SAINT MARY PARISH, VIROQUA
Introduction: One of the major figures of Advent appears on the scene today; he is John the Baptist. As he announced the coming of Jesus in ancient Israel, so now he announces his coming again into our lives.
1. First, there are two realities into which every human being is born: they are space and time. From the moment of our conception until the day of our death we shall take up space and consume time. God is the author of both. We say that he created all that is – including the space everything occupies. He also set everything in motion through time. He who occupies no space himself does intervene in time. He entered into history in the time of Abraham, Moses and the prophets. Then, he sent his Son to occupy space and time. At that moment all space and all time became sacred. Now, Luke tells us the precise time when Jesus’ ministry became public. In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea, Philip his brother tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came upon John who was baptizing in the Jordan. The time has arrived!
2. Now, John wasn’t the first person to baptize people. You remember when the people of Israel were freed from Egypt 1300 years earlier they wandered with Moses for 40 years in the desert. Then, their leader Joshua led them across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Finally, they became a nation. Years later, when someone wanted to convert to Judaism they had first to cross the river physically as the first Israelites had done. It is in this ritual that baptism finds its origin. So, John the Baptist is back at the Jordan; this time he baptizes people who are seeking the forgiveness of their sins. He is preparing people to become a New Israel, a people that will extend justice and mercy to all the nations. Jesus approaches. He has no sins. Yet, John baptizes him pre-figuring the passage he would make from death to life, a passage we all make at our own baptisms. Our baptism repeats the journey Jesus made into the tomb and out of that tomb to new life. That journey echoes every day in the life of the baptized Christian when we die to selfishness and sin; when we move on to fullness of life with Jesus.
3. One of the results of our baptism is the joy that comes to us because we become brothers and sisters of Jesus. Let us always remember that to be the source of our real joy; the relationship we have with Christ. A man goes to a priest and complains: “Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?” The priest answers: “Take the goat into the room with you.” The man is incredulous, but the priest insists: “Do as you are told and come back in a week.” A week later the man comes back, half dead: “We cannot stand it. The goat is filthy.” The priest tells him: “Go home and let the goat out. And come back in a week’s time.” A radiant man visits the priest a week later: “Life is beautiful, Father. We enjoy every minute. No goat; only the nine of us!” Find the true source of joy. It is not comfort; it is relationship – relationship with Jesus, with those we love.
Conclusion: Space is sacred! Time is sacred! Because of our baptism, we are sacred. Remember the true source of your joy. It is the Lord. As the French poet wrote, “Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.” (Leon Bloy)