2nd Sunday of Advent, B December 6, 2020
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
Why wait? It’s been a tough year, why wait to have the Christmas parties? Why not have the gifts now? It’s been a tough twenty centuries, why does God wait? Why has it taken more than 2000 years for Jesus to come again and just put an end to this mess of a world? Peter addresses that question in our second reading. His answer is simple: God waits so that we have time to repent.
St. Peter tells us that the world will be “dissolved by fire” and that this fact should make us carefully examine the way we live. When that great fire happens and Jesus comes, we will all face final judgment and it will be too late to get our spiritual lives in order. We want the Lord to come because we’re tired of this world, yet the coming of the Lord is not something we should face unprepared.
This applies to Jesus’ first coming too. John the Baptist lives a life of self-denial and penance and proclaims a “baptism of repentance” because he knows that “one mightier than I is coming after me.” The mightiness of the Lord is both comforting and terrifying. Comforting in that Jesus alone can bring perfect justice. Terrifying in the fact that we are usually the cause of that injustice. If we are sinners, then we might be on the wrong end of his justice when he gets here. By being too impatient, we risk losing the very thing we’re rushing to get.
Now, the world acts like it’s already the Christmas season, but according to God and His Church, that’s not true. The Christmas season starts on Christmas eve and our celebration of it should really wait until then. Why wait? Because God gave us Avent for a reason; we’re only a week into the most overlooked season in the year. As Lent is to Easter, so Advent is to Christmas. Even though it is less intense that Lent, Advent is supposed to be a time of penance and of getting ready to celebrate. It is a time of joyful anticipation, but it is still anticipation and waiting, not an excuse to start partying early.
We are called to wait and to prepare because Advent is a model for our whole life, which is supposed to be joyfully awaiting and preparing for the second coming. The thing is, whenever Jesus comes, he brings fire with him. Like any fire, it can be both really good and really bad. Scripture often compares our souls to wood or straw. Scripture also compares our souls to gold, silver, and iron. Where fire destroys one, it can improve and strengthen the other. Which is your soul like? For most of us, it’s probably more flammable than we like to think.
So, how do we prepare our souls for the arrival of Jesus and his fire? By taking advantage of the fire we’ve already received. John the Baptist says Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. In the other Gospels, he even uses the words “with the Holy Spirit and fire.” John’s baptisms are mostly symbolic acts of repentance, but our Christian baptism is a real sacrament that gives us the Holy Spirit. That’s why, during a baptism, the priest hands you or your parents a lit candle during your baptism. It represents the fire of the Spirit, which is meant to purify and burn away all that flammable stuff in your soul, to transform it to gold and silver that will survive the final fire at the end of the world. This process takes time and it requires patience, a willingness to wait.
So, use this Advent well. Use it to cooperate with the fire you’ve already received in baptism and to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. That cooperation works in a few different ways. The Holy Spirit convicts us, he strengthens us, he guides us.
Conviction. Prepare for the coming of the Lord by letting the Holy Spirit call you out of your sins. It is that voice of conscience that tells you what you did wrong, what you’re doing wrong so that you can change it. This is not the same thing as shame, which tells us that who we are is wrong. Unlike shame, guilt can motivate us to change. This is an ongoing, continual effort that needs the help of the Holy Spirit.
How often do you quietly use the ten commandments or the 7 deadly sins to examine your conscience? How often do you go to confession? When was the last time you fasted? Or chose to offer up some discomfort as a chance to grow in the virtue of patience?
Strengthen. Prepare for coming of the Lord by allowing the Holy Spirit to strengthen you. Jesus teaches the Holy Spirit intercedes for us because we do not know how to pray as we ought. This should be a comfort to anyone who has struggled to pray. Give the Spirit a chance to offer that prayer. Be deliberate about treating the Holy Spirit as a person you want in your life. Call on him often each day – “come Holy Spirit.” Seek out silence and invite the Holy Spirit in. Quietly reading scripture or simply looking at Jesus in adoration are good ways to do this.
Guidance. If we do the other two, we’ll learn to better recognize the Holy Spirit’s guidance. The Holy Spirit guides the Church. The Church’s teachings are not just some old rules, they are guaranteed directions from the Holy Spirit. Follow his guidance by continuing to learn about your faith. The liturgy is also a gift of the Holy Spirit. The Mass, the sacraments, the different liturgical seasons are all external, visible ways we can step into spiritual patterns of life. It’s why the colors, music, and focus of each season changes. If we follow these patterns even when we don’t feel like it, we can trust that we are following God’s designs. In an age of constant change and confusion, there is real comfort in having that objective, external standard. How do I know that now is the right time to do penance? Because it’s Advent or Lent. How do I know that now is the right time to celebrate? Because it’s Christmas or Easter.
The Holy Spirit convicts us, He strengthens us, He guides us. In our impatience, we don’t realize that following this guidance actually speeds up our journey to the joy we’re looking for. Peter tells us that holiness and devotion “hasten” the end of the world. By repenting of our sins and following the Spirit, we lead ourselves and others closer to God, which is what God is waiting for. In a mystical way, by honoring the calls to penance and self-denial now, by waiting to celebrate on God’s time rather than ours, we will get to the true celebration even sooner.
So, why wait? Because waiting when the Lord tells us to wait is actually the fastest way to get where we want to be.