II SUNDAY OF ADVENT
SUNDAY OF CONSOLATION AND HOPE
By our Pastor, Fr. Carmelo Jiménez
The readings for this Second Sunday of Advent bring us warm, restorative and compassionate words, that speak directly to our hearts. As a parish family, we have been praying for several brothers and sisters that we do not know personally, but they are relatives of some of our members. We celebrate with them every improvement and progress in their health. But even so, with sadness we see how cancer invades some of our loved ones, many of them had it before and for others it is the first time. And there are many other diseases that cause our brothers and sisters to be confined in bed and depend on those who are around them for their needs, and others have to be taken to the Nursing Home. Diseases affect not only one person, but the whole family. And gradually removing strength, both the sick person and the family becomes heavy burdened, and sometimes exasperated. We see all of the diseases together with the violence, assaults, insecurity, drugs and young people without meaning in their life. All that seems like the silence of God, but He has never forgotten us. The prophet Isaiah reminds us of the words of God: “Comfort, comfort to my people, says your God.” (Is 40: 1)
“Go up on to a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news!” (Isaiah 40: 9) Advent is not a time to sit back, to let ourselves fall without hope, and stay in the lament, without consolation. The prophet Isaiah and John the Baptist urge us to work, to set out a work of reconstruction: to make a path in the desert for the Lord, to fill the valleys and to flatten mountains and hills, to turn the craggy lands into plains. To be prepared for the great arrival of the Lord. “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.” (Mk 1: 1)
The Diocese of Owensboro, in which I am carrying out my priestly ministry, is calling us to a process of Missionary Disciples, which will be a 4 year process. This first year of that process is focused on the Encounter with Jesus (in a special way in the Eucharist). At the end of this process, we expect everyone to feel they are a Disciple and are sent to announce the Good News. In the same way these readings invite us: first, to prepare the way for the arrival of Jesus into our lives, a personal encounter with Christ. Second, after we hear Jesus’ words of consolation and hope, we’ll be able to announce His words from the mountaintops to our brothers and sisters. But today the mountaintops are: those people who feel far from God, the young people who have lost the meaning of life, the nursing homes and hospitals and our brothers and sisters who are sick.
“I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mk 1: 8) John’s baptism and Christian baptism are differentiated by the Spirit; it is not just about penance. Those who followed John had to renounce their past. Those who follow Jesus, besides the penance, will have a new spirit.
The true Christmas that gives consolation is to know that God embraces all of us through his Son, He forgives all of us and He walks with everyone, even though our eyes do not notice him. Let’s bring His love, consolation, hope and peace to those who most need it.