Second Sunday of Advent
"A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots"
Introduction
I begin my discussion by referring to the three antiphons, - this entry: The Lord will save the people ...
- of the psalm: Come, Lord King of justice and peace ...
- and the Gospel: Prepare the way of the Lord ...
The three antiphons as a whole puts us in tune with the spirit of the advent in general and in particular, the theme of this second week of waiting for the Lord Jesus
An initial application to set better reflection:
What is the most accurate to prepare and wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus?
The gospel of this Second Sunday of Advent presents the figure of John the Baptist, in his words and life we \u200b\u200bfind a key to understanding and interpretation in response to our initial question: How to prepare in this time of waiting?
I present this route:
1 - Look for the conversion of mind, heart and actions.
2 - respond promptly to the invitation of the conversion
3 - witness with joy the new life in the spirit of communion
1 - To check the conversion of mind, heart and actions we must pay attention to:
- mind: thoughts
- heart, feelings, affections, emotions.
- Actions: attitudes, behaviors (fruit of conversion)
Preaching John had as main purpose the proclamation of the nearness of the kingdom of heaven and to prepare for the coming of the Lord Jesus' call to conversion is addressed to "all", but especially to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the Gospel says Matthew, "seeing many Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism ... "
Why them? The Pharisees and the Sadducees believed that conversion was a mental fact which did not involve the whole person. They limited themselves to perform the commandments of the law and ignoring the main and most important commandment: love toward others (sinners).
a view Pharisees "conversion" was something about the formal ... but that did not touch the depths of the heart. The conversion that announces and proclaims, even Matthew says: cries, it is an "invitation" to the total and radical change in our relationship with God and with others.
The conversion then, first of all, is to rebuild a new relationship with God and with others.
2 - To respond promptly to the invitation of the conversion . The Evangelist Matthew records the words of the prophet Isaiah as advance the mission of John: "Voice of one crying in the wilderness ...." In the invitation of John we find a listing that becomes an emergency, in which there is no time to waste and think. Repent! It is imperative not only an "invitation" ... we must then make the decision now!
The conversion is also our generous response to the grace of God
3 - And finally, for witness with joy the new life in the spirit of communion, as the fruit of our conversion we can extract from the words of the prophet Isaiah's first reading. The Prophet presents us with a world of beauty, harmony and total communion between that man and God, man and man and man and nature. The description of the prophet helps us to understand that the mission of Christians today is to build a human world more beautiful, peaceful, respectful and solidarity between man and man and between man and nature as an expression of our communion with God
From this perspective, conversion is to rebuild a new relationship with God, with others and with nature.
That the word and the life of John the Baptist to guide our feet on the way to a deep conversion, which bring us back to the root of our very being: to live in deep communion and total.
Praised be Jesus Christ ... To all eternity!
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