Homily:  2nd Sunday in Advent, YR B

“Prepare the Way of the Lord!”

by Fr. William Holtzinger

Dec. 3/4, 2005

 

This past week, brother Robert Rodriguez was here offering us an Advent Mission.  He made many comments that stuck with me.  One that he shared was how he had gone to a local store and noticed that he couldn’t find the traditional crèche or manger scene anywhere.  Finally he found it tucked away in the back of a bottom shelf hardly within view.  Has the world become so secularized that any hint of religiosity is to be banned?  Many stores have made it policy not to speak about Christmas, but rather the “holiday.”  It seems that now is the time when Isaiah’s texts have more relevance than ever before.  We all need to be encouraged.  He proclaims:

 

Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah:

Here is your God!  (Is. 40:9)

&

In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!

Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!

Every valley shall be filled in,

every mountain and hill shall be made low;

the rugged land shall be made a plain,

the rough country, a broad valley. (Is. 40:3-4)

 

or as Peter says in our second reading:  

Do not ignore this one fact, beloved,

that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years

and a thousand years like one day.

The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,”

but he is patient with you,

not wishing that any should perish

but that all should come to repentance. (2 Pet 3:8-9)

 

The fact is, the Lord is coming.  This will signal the end of the world as we know it.  In the minds of the secular world, this is something to be feared.  The imagery used by Peter sure could make one nervous!  But, from the eyes of a Christian, we are to long for this day.  It will be the time of a new beginning.  Peter even tells us to be at peace. (2 Pet 3:14)
 

Alfred Delp, a Jesuit priest who was tortured to death at the hands of the Nazis was able to sneak out some writings while in the concentration camp.  In one such writing he said, “There is nothing we modern people need more than to be genuinely shaken up.”   These are some profound words coming from someone in such a situation.  He’s right.  We need to be shaken from our sleepiness of disinterest about the things going on around us.  Is it possible that the secularization is partly due to our indifference to the differences around us?  Have we become lukewarm to the reality that ambiguity disguised as tolerance has watered down our own faith?  Alongside this secularization has come a humongous commercial engine, a machine.  Br. Robert spoke during the mission about a book entitled, “Unplug the Christmas Machine” by Jo Robinson and Jean Staeheli (1991) which described in detail the transformation that has taken place within the past 100+ years surrounding Christmas.  They give many creative ways we can participate in this season without getting sucked into the immense commercialization that has happen in our last century.  It never used to be like this you know.  It seems almost incomprehensible.  Hasn’t Christmas always been a frenzy of shopping for presents?  Nope!
 

What is Advent about?  Why do we have this period of time?  It about preparing for Christmas.  But preparing for Christmas isn’t a nostalgia about a cute little baby Jesus in a manger.  But, rather, our mangers are intended to remind us of what God has done and will do in the future.  He came once and will return.  We are to remember that he became flesh like you and me.  We are to remember that by coming in the flesh, he was then crucified, died, and rose again.  Yet, we forget these profound mysteries of salvation.  This is the very reason St. Francis created the crèche or manger.  The people of his time had forgotten about the immense mystery and awesomeness of Jesus’ becoming one like us.  They had emptied out the power of the Incarnation in their hearts.  St. Francis wanted to remind them and stir their hearts to once again recover their sense of awe and wonder at what God had done for them so long ago.
 

Advent is our time to prepare our hearts for the coming of our Lord. It is a time when we remember Christ’s first coming in order to prepare for his second coming.    But what does Christ want us to do in order to prepare?  The Scriptures tell us to “be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace” (2 Pet 3:14).  In order to do that, we must seek out reconciliation and love in our hearts. 
 

Right now, the stores are in full swing for their Christmas shop-a-thons.  And many of us have bought right into it.  It is so powerful that we could hardly imagine not buying a present for someone.  Now, I’m not advocating not to give gifts for Christmas.  Rather, I’m offering a challenge that will level the credit card debt and raise the love and sense of community in your life.  
 

This Advent, prepare your hearts so that Christ may be born again in your heart.  Don’t listen to the voices that say the only way to show love is to buy them the most expensive thing you can.  Not everything we want should we have.  Besides, how many of you still have last year’s gifts or remember what they were?  So, instead, spend time with your loved ones.  Consider carefully, though it may be too late, to buy less stuff and spend more time with each other.  Do not get sucked into obligatory gift giving, for love is not love when it is not done with a heart that is not freely giving.  I don’t mean that one shouldn’t give any gifts, but rather to let go of the obligation and see it as an opportunity.
 

As you put up decorations, pray as you go.  Bless each thing and ask that God will enlighten your heart to his love.  Prepare with purpose not just with presumption.  Be mindful of the reasons for each thing.  Clear out things that are mere sentimentality and replace them with spirit-filled significance to the faith.  Make your home a place where Christ is likely to visit.  If his second coming occurred on Christmas Eve 2005, what would he think about your home as he walked through your front door?  How would he react when he approaches your Christmas tree?
 

Prepare your heart as you prepare your home.  Make it a manger for Christ where he can reside once again.  Then, like a shepherd he will feed his flock; in his arms he will gather you, his lamb, carrying you in his bosom, and lead his loved ones to heaven with care.