Gospel & Reflection for the Second Sunday of Advent
Matthew 3:1‐12
In due course John the Baptist appeared; he preached in the wilderness of Judaea and this was his message: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’ This was the man the prophet Isaiah spoke of when he said:
A voice cries in the wilderness:
Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight.
This man John wore a garment made of camel‐hair with a leather belt round his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judaea and the whole Jordan district made their way to him, and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. But when he saw a number of Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers, who warned you to fly from the retribution that is coming? But if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruit, and do not presume to tell yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father,” because, I tell you, God can raise children for Abraham from these stones. Even now the axe is laid to the roots of the trees, so that any tree which fails to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire. I baptise you in water for repentance, but the one who follows me is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing‐fan is in his hand; he will clear his threshing‐floor and gather his wheat into the barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.’
Reflection
Friends, it has now been seven months since Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th leader of our Catholic Church. As we know he took the name Leo XIV, and he is our first American Pope. His style of leadership we could describe as being low-key, formal, and cautious. His pontificate has been very different so far to that of Francis, even though he continues to build on the legacy of Francis especially in the areas of peace, poverty, and reforms in Church governance. Pope Leo has shown himself calm and humble and has proven himself an attentive listener before making decisions. But, in many ways we are still getting to know him, and until we hear more from him and see him in action, there remains an air of mystery about him.
This is true especially with the press, who have not got a real chance to get close to him and ask the questions that are on their mind. This was evident recently with Pope Leo’s visit to Turkey and Lebanon. On the plane journey back to Rome, he gave his first inflight press conference, with journalists asking questions and the Holy Father responding off the cuff. One of the questions asked was about his election as Pope all those months ago. The journalist asked what was going through his mind, what was running through his head when he was about to be elected Pope? Pope Leo responded by saying that when he realised the reality that it was ‘going his way’, he took a quiet moment, then a deep breath and simply said, “Here we go Lord, you’re in charge and You lead the way.”
In that extraordinary, life changing moment, he prayed a simple but profound prayer. As an American might say, an ‘awesome prayer’! It is a beautiful prayer, a mantra for life, that every faithful person could embrace: ‘Here we go Lord. You and I together, but you Lord are leading; you’re in charge and I trust you.’
Well, if there was ever a person who allowed God to lead, and was willing to follow Him all the way, it was John the Baptist. Every second Sunday of Advent we are reintroduced to his formidable and courageous presence, and voice; that “voice crying in the wilderness”. John was a tough, unsentimental, honest man. He had no tolerance for nonsense, no interest in political correctness, and zero lenience with religious hypocrisy. He came to prepare the way for the Lord, but he did so by leading the way too. In modern expression, he talked the talk, and he walked the walk.
John always did what God asked of Him. He allowed God to lead, and he accepted God’s way completely and trustingly, even to martyrdom. So, no wonder that people loved, respected, and listened to him. They were not afraid of John or frightened by his message. They recognised his integrity of life and faith. They admired his honorable nature, and seeing how God was working in his life, they wanted the same for themselves. Through John, they were willing to follow God’s way.
Friends, on this second Sunday of Advent, as the light on our wreath grows brighter, and the feast of the incarnation draws nearer, the integrity and courageousness of John the Baptist calls out to us all. He asks that we take up his mantle in following God, that we stand up for our beliefs and live them with integrity.
So, we pray today that we shall have a ferocious love for God, and in life and faith we shall express our fierce love in what we say and do, especially for others. Should we ever feel that we can’t do that or are not able to do that, for whatever reason, then like Pope Leo, let us take a moment, inhale a deep breath and then quietly say: “Here we go Lord, you’re in charge and You lead the way.”
It worked for John the Baptist. It worked for Pope Leo. It will work for us too.
Fr. Richard
