This Sunday we look back as the Jewish people await the coming of the Messiah for thousands of years...
Reflections on the readings for the Second Sunday of Advent (December 4, 2022): IS 11:1-10; PS 72:1-2,7-8,12-13,17; ROM 15:4-9;MT 3:1-12
MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
This Sunday we look back as the Jewish people await the coming of the Messiah for thousands of years. And we hear the message of His arrival through the Baptist who draws all who will listen and respond to the joyful news.
Last Sunday, we looked ahead to the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time. Today we focus on Jesus among His people two thousand years ago. First we hear from the prophet Isaiah. He wants to give hope in a troubled time to the people of the Jewish nation who are longing for help. Isaiah wanted them to understand that God loved them and had not forgotten them. From the line of the great King David, whose father was Jesse, a greater king than any they could imagine would appear. “On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. 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. … On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:1-3,10). The justice and peace, the wisdom and glory that are attributed to the future King will not only be available for the Jews but for other nations as well. While Isaiah and others who prophesized the coming of Jesus could not have known that their Savior would be, in fact, the Son of God, they truly believed that the Christ would come. They had faith because the Almighty promised it. And God keeps His promises. In His own time and His own way, His divine plan would be revealed.
The Gospel introduces us to the last of the great line of Jewish prophets. St. John the Baptist’s task was to announce that the long-awaited Messiah had come. He proclaims His very real presence among them -- and foresees His Final Judgment as well. The Baptist tied together the Old and the New Testaments by calling all who would hear him to repent and to ready themselves for the One sent by God. There is a lovely old Advent hymn that sings of John and of Jesus: “On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry / announces that the Lord is nigh; / awake and hearken for he brings / glad tidings of the King of kings.” So on this Second Sunday of Advent, we should embrace the love of God. Isaiah experienced it and so did John the Baptist. In the person of Jesus Christ, Son of God and of Man, human hope was fulfilled through Divine mercy.
