2nd Sunday of Advent (A)

Reflections for liturgical years 2014 (A), 2015 (B), and 2016 (C)
December 8, 2013 (edited for 12/7/2025)
Liturgical readings
Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72
Romans 15:4-9
Matthew 3:1-12

"I baptize you in water. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire."

John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Old Testament, and the bridge to the New Testament, prepared the people Israel for the coming of Christ. He prepared the people by baptizing them in the in the Jordan river. His prophetic message to the Jews of his time is also a message for our present age: to prepare for the coming of Christ in our minds, hearts, souls, and in all our relationship at work and with family. John the Baptist calls each one to look deep into their souls and to act in a direction of repentance and amendment of life - that God's light may shine each one more brightly. God's light helps each one under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharistic community to follow the right path. It is in Christ that each one can unlearn bad habits and do what is right in the eyes of both God and man. In Christ Jesus, all can see what is essential: God, His love for each one personally, and for all people. This Sunday of Advent is another opportunity to reflect well on John's message to prepare ourselves well to receive the Lord in our lives.

Moving forward three centuries after John the Baptist baptized in the Jordan, St. Augustine of Hippo, a bishop and doctor of the Church, wrote also in his Advent sermon that John's baptism was meant to prepare the people Israel for the Savior. Now, John the Baptist preaches about the baptism of Christ. Unlike John's baptism, the baptism Christ will give is a baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire. In this baptism everyone receives "a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, and a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord". In this baptism, the faithful are all called to share in the Church's mission to build God's Kingdom in the very circumstances of their work and life.

The message on this Sunday's theme of baptism helps all to reflect on the meaning of each one's own baptism. For the baptism received gifted the faithful with membership in the community of the Church. As members of the Church, it asks each one to fulfill a task and a responsibility: to participate in Christ's mission to bring the gospel to this present generation. Each one is commissioned to make their baptismal consecration bear the image and work of Christ in their lives, and to share that to others as well. This can be done one day at a time. Advent reroots each one's work and life in the context of their initial baptismal commitment to Christ. In this rerooting, one can slow down, pause, and reflect more deeply: "What have I done for Christ?" "What am I doing for Christ?" "What can I do for Christ?"

Quotes from the Sunday readings:
The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him (Isaiah 11)
For he shall rescue the poor man when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him (Psalm 72)
God the source of all patience and encouragement enables us to live in the spirit of Christ Jesus (Romans 15)
A herald's voice in the desert: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.' (Matthew 3)