2ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A

Isaiah 11:1-10

Psalm 71

Romans 15:4-9

Matthew 3:1-12

WAITING FOR THE REALIZATION OF GOD’S PLAN

God’s plan is to bring us all back to himself. He does not just call us from afar. He comes to us by sending us messengers. In today’s liturgy, we have Isaiah, Paul and John the Baptist. 

The prophet Isaiah announces the coming of God’s Anointed One. Full of the Holy Spirit, this Messiah-King, a descendent of king David, is coming to restore peace, harmony and God’s glorious kingdom of truth and justice on earth. In his days, justice shall flourish, happiness and fullness of peace forever. This prophecy of Isaiah may be difficult to accept in our contemporary world characterized by violence, conflicts, discrimination, injustices, corruption, political upheavals, wars, and so forth. We may be tempted to consider it as utopic and unrealistic. 

However, Isaiah’s prophecy remains a message of hope for all times, because it announces the fulfillment of God’s wondrous plan for mankind. And this cannot but inspire hope in us, just as St Paul tells us in the second reading. According to him, the Sacred Scripture aims at instructing us and inspiring hope in us, for it reveals to us God’s saving plan for us. Thus, while we await the full realization of God’s kingdom, we are invited to live in harmony, tolerance and patience despites our differences.

Moreover, this Kingdom of God is not something far away. Indeed, St John the Baptist announces: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The condition for entering and being a part of this kingdom is to implement a change in our life, which is to repent every day, to take a step forward each day. That is why John calls for repentance. He challenges all of us and not only the Sadducees and Pharisees to show fruits of repentance, conversion and renewal because God’s judgment is imminent. 

In this perspective, the message of this second Sunday of Advent is clear: Christ, the Messiah-King and just Judge, is coming. God’s promise to his people is about to be realized. Therefore, the words of John the Baptist must sound once more in our ears: “Prepare the way of the Lord”. Let us not allow the challenges of this present time make us lose hope. Our Savior is coming to save us. Amen

  

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