Prepare to Return to God!

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent, Year B

St. Mary of Assumption Catholic Church, Whittier, CA

Sunday, December 10, 2017

The three biblical figures that express in different ways the spirit of Advent season are prophet Isaiah, the Blessed Mother Mary and John the Baptist. Isaiah’s message creates and generates hope and expectation; the obedience of Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother, opened the door to the incarnation. Her ‘Yes’ to God made the marriage of humanity and divinity possible. Her ‘Yes’ began a new era and a new dawn for all generations; and the message of John the Baptist calls our attention to the necessity of preparing the way of the Lord. Each of these figures points to no other person but Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Savior of the world. The prophetic message of hope of Isaiah is that our guilt is expiated, that is, atoned and paid for. The message he delivered on behalf of God is that of comfort: “Comfort, give comfort to my people.” His message of expectation tells us that God is coming: “Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God! Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules by his strong arm…” Mary’s ‘Yes’ is captured in these words: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). In today’s Gospel, Luke tells us that in fulfillment of the Prophecy of Isaiah which says, “A voice of one crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths,” John the Baptist showed up in the desert and began to preach a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As people from all walks of life were coming to him for Baptism, he did not abuse the special privilege, or claim to be the expected Messiah, rather he said to them, “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8). 

Friends in Christ, the central theme of today’s Gospel and of course, the first reading, is preparation. Preparation is always going to be one of the core themes of the season of Advent. We are being urged to “Prepare the way of the Lord.” For the old Israel, the way of the Lord was Israel’s path to freedom from slavery in Egypt and from exile in Babylon. But in today’s Gospel, John the Baptist is preparing the people of his time, generations after, including ours, a new path to freedom. He started preparing the people of his time with a baptism of repentance and forgiveness of sin. I believe everyone of us here is already baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. I believe each of us has already been baptized with the Holy Spirit. But since our baptism, we have fallen into sin over and over again. Therefore, there’s an urgent need for repentance, conversion and forgiveness from the Lord. Some of us have gone to confession already as part of their preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ. For those who are yet to do this, I urge you to get reconciled with God. And for those of us who claim that they confess their sins directly to God in their rooms and therefore don’t need the sacrament of confession and reconciliation, I ask you: how come you don’t baptize your kids yourself? How come you don’t cut a piece of bread, pour a glass of wine, say a prayer over them, consume them and then convince yourself that you have eaten and drunk the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ? How come when you met your sweetheart, you don’t invite the members of your family and friends, officiate your wedding and marry each other yourself and believe that is the sacrament of matrimony? How come when you buy religious articles you don’t bless them yourself and believe they are blessed? If you confess your sins in the comfort of your house, it is possible God will forgive you. In fact, God can forgive you anyone, anywhere. I don’t think it is theologically correct to reduce the power of God within the confines of the confessional. But there’s a reason why Jesus gave us this sacrament. He wants reconciliation to be part of this “making up with God.” Reconciliation, by its very nature, requires someone else to bring about it. If B has offended A, for reconciliation to take place, C has to come in to set things right— plead on behalf of B, urge B to turn a new leaf, and then bring A and B together. That’s what God did for humanity. When the moment came for God to initiate reconciliation with humanity, he did not forgive us from heaven. He sent his Son. As Jesus was wrapping up his earthly ministry, one of the sacraments he bequeathed on the Church is the sacrament of confession and reconciliation. Folks, there are seven sacraments, not six or five. 

On this Second Sunday of Advent, let’s begin the actual preparation for Christmas. By this I don’t mean the glamor, the decorations, the Christmas trees and lights. I don’t mean the pomp and pageantry, the purchase and acquisition of needs and wants. By preparation, I mean a decision to turn towards the Lord. That’s the core message of John the Baptist in today’s Gospel. He’s asking us to level the mountain of wickedness in our lives; to turn away from darkness, turn towards the Light, Jesus Christ. He’s urging us  to change our mind, heart, and behavior. Like John, I urge each of us to look deep inside us, pinpoint those attitudes, lifestyles and behaviors that don’t constitute right relationship with God, and then begin the process of purging them. While the Israelites followed the desert way of the Lord to return to the Promise Land, those who are called by the name of the Lord must follow the way of repentance, conversion, change of mind, heart, and attitude (metanoia) and return to authentic relationship with God.