Advent, week 2, cycle A,12-7-25

 Today is the second Sunday of Advent.

During this season we are all preparing for the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas.

We are buying and wrapping gifts.

We are preparing for parties with family, friends, and co-workers.

We are making travel plans to visit loved ones during this busy season.

But with all these activities going on, are we preparing our heart and soul to welcome Christ when he comes?

Our readings today provide some insight as what to expect in the coming of Jesus as the Messiah.

We heard from the prophet Isaiah:

On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.

The shoot that will sprout from stump of Jesse refers to the family origin that the Jesus will came from.

Jesse is the Father of King David, the greatest of the kings of Israel,

We heard a few weeks ago that David’s kingdom will be everlasting of which the Messiah would come.

Jesus is the shoot from the stump of Jesse who will send the gifts of the Holy Spirit on us as we hear again from Isaiah:

The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.

This kingdom will usher in a time of peace and tranquility as we hear again from Isaiah:

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.

This image of animals living in harmony is quite a contrast to what we see on Animal Planet, where these animals prey on each other or would be harmful to us.

It presents a new world of peace that we long for.

In the Gospel we hear the last of the great prophets, John the Baptist, who Isaiah spoke of as:

A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.

He was announcing to the people to turn from the crooked ways to prepare to meet the Lord.

There was much chaos occurring in Jerusalem at the time and people sought a refuge to find peace.

They did so by going out to the desert, where they acknowledged their sins and were baptized in the Jordan River by John.

While this was a great start to make crooked ways straight, it was a precursor to something much greater.

John foretold of someone who had supernatural power, much mightier than him, Jesus Christ, who would be baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire.

He had the power to send the Holy Spirit and the grace for us to live in holiness so we can bring about the kingdom of God.

During Advent much preparation goes into to celebrating Jesus’ birth at Christmas.

There is much anticipation that leads up to this celebration of Christmas day, most of all by our children and grandchildren.

They joyfully look forward to celebrating Jesus’ birth.

Our children are a great source of encouragement than can help us prepare to welcome Jesus.

During Advent we also prepare for Jesus second coming, when he will fully usher in the Kingdom of God.

This is something that we can anticipate with joy as well, because it will bring about the peace and harmony that we heard about in the prophet Isaiah.

We are invited in this season of Advent to reflect on what we need to do to prepare for his coming.

What are the crooked ways we need to make straight?

How can we best prepare for Jesus second coming?

First, by planning some quiet time each day, away from the chaos of the world, where we can find some peace to be with God.

Scheduling 5 or 10 minutes each day, can have a tremendous impact on being prepared to welcome the Lord.

The Advent reflection booklets that are available in the narthex are a great resource to help us focus on in prayer.

The readings for Sunday and the daily Mass are another wonderful resource.

Today’ reading from Isaiah is a good one to reflect on as it speaks of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The gifts help us to live our lives through the fruits of the Holy Spirit which are charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control and chastity.

These help us to become people of peace that can make the Kingdom of God present in the world.

Are there some gifts of the Holy Spirit that still need to be unwrapped in our lives?

If so, then spending time in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to help us develop these gifts, can be a good way to prepare for the Lord’s coming.

Another good way to prepare during Advent is to reflect on how we can make our crooked ways straight and then receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

There are plenty of opportunities at our parish and other parishes in the diocese during this season to make it easy to go to confession.

This last week I had the opportunity again to visit inmates at Heritage Trails Correctional Facility in Plainfield.

We had some good news for these men as they will have Mass celebrated in the prison along with the sacrament of reconciliation the next week

This was the first time in over a year they had this opportunity.

The responded to this news with excitement like children anticipating the joy of Jesus coming at Christmas.

May we find this same joy as well as we spend time prepare our hearts for Jesus coming at Christmas and when he comes again in glory to usher in his heavenly Kingdom.