Meditation on the sacred texts of December 8th, 2024 Second Sunday of Advent
Suggested readings: Baruch 5, 1-9; Psalms 125, 1-6; Philippians 1, 4-6.8-11; Luke 3,1-6
Dear brothers and sisters, dear scouts and guides, since last Sunday we have entered the time of Advent and we have been invited to “live with our hearts turned towards God with our feet firmly anchored on the earth”. Today we are called by the Church to celebrate this second Sunday dedicated to John the Baptist. He announces the coming of the Messiah and invites us to prepare the way of the Lord and live conversion. Indeed, if we are preparing properly the coming of the Lord, his grace will make us good disciples, filled with faith and hope for the beautiful days that the Lord will give us, days of peace, happiness, thanksgiving and we will be able to live the present moments with joy and gratitude as Paul experienced in his life with the community of the Philippians .
In the first reading of this Sunday (Baruch), the author sees that Jerusalem will be liberated, he calls for joy (Bar 5,1), to put on the majesty with which God wants to adorn it and make it shine. A free initiative of God who does not forget his children because He is faithful to his promises. He encourages and consoles the disoriented children of Israel, lost and invites them to hope, to joy, because since the destruction of Jerusalem the people were in mourning. This passage of sadness, of mourning towards joy is like a resurrection which testifies to the fidelity of God to his promises. Baruch who preached in Jerusalem at that time, he now talks to us, the people of God, because on a more personal level, each one also has his gown of sadness. He invites us to rejoice because our redemption is near, he calls us to put on the cloak of justice. He wants us to remember that the foundation of the believer’s life is based on justice, we must know how to live in this world in righteousness. This way of life will allow us to hope for a new world. The biblical image of the hills lowered symbolizes equal relationships where human beings can meet on the same level where all men will feel like brothers and sisters (the scout is the friend of all and brother of every other scout). To the extent where humans respect the rights of others, the earth will become inhabitable, a place where suffering and mourning will give way to joy. This is what Baruch invites Jerusalem to and not only Jerusalem, but also all of us! It is already the coming of the Kingdom of God that Jesus will proclaim. We are called to become carriers of the very radiance of God” which dwells in every believer.
In the Gospel (Luke 3:1-6) that we have just heard, Saint Luke would like to underline that the initiative of the history of salvation does not belong to the great, to the princes who govern us, but rather it comes from God himself who chooses his messengers. On this second Sunday of Advent, the word of God presents us a time when everything was going badly in Israel, but at the same time there was also a prophet who cried out a message of hope. God wants to use us to make his voice heard, because his Son comes to save us. We must be the John the Baptist of today and at the same time this people who are called to convert us in order to prepare our hearts to welcome in the joy of the Child of the Crib. Let us not waste time.
Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, Anna and Caiaphas… all display glorious and pompous titles. And beside all these “great men”, there is John, son of Zechariah, this saint John the Baptist, the marginal, according to appearances, the man from the desert who lives far from official circuits, who preferred the solitude of the desert to the ostentatious and luxurious life and on whom the Word of God takes on its full meaning.
John the Baptist as been given a great mission: to prepare and invite the people of God to prepare the way of the Lord who comes. It is true that we want to prepare our hearts and for the light of God to shine within us. This can be a time for introspection and a request for reconciliation. We need to clear our lives and prepare our souls. Because how could we welcome the Lord into our lives if we are already full of ourselves? It is in humility whichis not primarily a moral quality, it is above all a fundamental attitude of the believer. And it is a daily struggle as we place ourselves higher than we are.
The voice of John the Baptist that the Gospel tells us, brings us some conditions that will allow us to continue with confidence our journey towards Christmas and to see the salvation of God, because we have the heavy responsibility of preparing the ways of the Lord. To do this, let us convert ourselves, let us be true and upright, let us be just and help our brothers and sisters to live these Christian values, being models ourselves, preaching through example, because the duty of the scout begins at home. Then we will not live for ourselves only but also for others.
Saint Paul, in the second reading (Phil 1:4-6. 8-11), is amazed by the faith of the Philippians and every time he thinks of them, in view of their testimony of life (the fruits) among themselves and towards Paul and for their testimony of faith (towards God), he gives thanks to God (verse 3). He was able to see what their relationship with the Lord in all its dimensions has already been able to produce. He finds his rightful place towards them: praying for them, for the growth in them of this love and this spirit of discernment to move forward in the present situation.
May this example of Paul be our way of being, of behaving, if we have to guide someone. Let us know how to help him to let him grow in the relationship with the Lord who comes at Christmas, let us know how to enter into a fraternal relationship with him. Like Christ Jesus, like Paul, let us become a simple passage, a door towards true life for our brothers.
To conclude our meditation, we are invited to the conversion of heart to prepare the way of the Lord but also we have the duty of a heavy mission like John the Baptist and Paul to help our brothers and sisters to prepare together the coming of the Lord who wants this world to be a better place, where there is peace, joy, mutual love, where some pray for others and the Emmanuel, “God among us”, will lead us to eternal life.