A Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent

+ Even in monasteries, the preparation for the celebration of Christmas and the organisation and preparation of ceremonies, guests and even turkeys (!) takes up considerable time and energy in Advent. Families, too, rightly plan the necessary logistics worthily to celebrate the Lord’s Nativity: all this, whilst many in the secular world lust opportunistically after the possibility of commercial success regardless of the nature of the feast itself.    

In the midst of such activity—which can so easily become an all-consuming cacophony—our Holy Mother the Church raises the voice of St John the Baptist, who asks from prison, presumably not without anticipation and hope: “Are you He who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

“Who are you, Jesus of Nazareth?” If there is one question for each human person of every race and nation to ask it is this question of St John the Baptist. For, as the Baptist anticipated, if Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Expected One, He is nothing less than the definitive revelation of Almighty God in history, the unique saviour of mankind, He who offers redemption from sin and death and life beyond the sufferings of this world that is eternal.

“Who are you, Jesus of Nazareth?” If we pose this question to our contemporaries we shall receive a variety of answers—or perhaps in some cases, we shall receive none at all because, seemingly, the question has no sense or context. “Why even ask the question?” some would respond, without a further thought (whilst hanging their Christmas decorations, planning their holiday or counting the Christmas takings).

When St John the Baptist asked this question he received the reply: “…the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” And from this response, as one filled with the faith and expectation of Israel (of which the Advent liturgy is an eloquent testament) he knew that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the One who had come from God to save His people, and that no other was to be expected. 

Our contemporaries are not, however, filled with the faith and expectation of Israel. Our society now prefers to speak of “winterval” and to wish each other “happy holidays” or “good feasts” rather than to use the dangerously specific word “Christmas”. Creches are banned from public buildings and spaces because they are exclusive of other religions. Formerly Christian countries and cultures rush to be seen consciously to denude themselves of any explicit vestiges of the fulfilment of the faith and expectation of Israel—whilst maintaining at all costs the opportunity to enjoying its social and material trappings.

One cannot ask “Who are you…?” of someone one has not encountered. Our post-Christian society cannot ask it of Jesus of Nazareth, for it flees from Him. Some might ask philosophically “Who is Jesus of Nazareth?”—as we know from history, an honest enquiry such as this can lead to a personal encounter with Christ and to faith, but it is rare. 

For we who have encountered Christ and who have been given the gift of faith, for we who worship Him before His altar this morning, the Baptist’s question calls us to a purification and renewal of our response to Him: to a deeper faith, to a consistent and virtuous moral life, to a radical living out of our vocation, to a more profound worship of Him in the Sacred Liturgy and in they prayer and devotional practices thar flow from it, to a greater service of my neighbour, etc.

So too, the question of St John the Baptist calls us to the urgent assistance of those who have no faith in He for whose coming Advent prepares. For whilst we are busy with our preparations, spiritual and material, we shall encounter many whose faith is lukewarm, cold or even dead, and others still for whom Jesus of Nazareth, if they know of Him at all, is most certainly not the Christ of God. Whether they be our neighbours, our work colleagues, those who provide services to our homes, members of our families or their friends—even people we encounter casually in shops and other places—our duty is in fact that of St John the Baptist: to prepare the way for the Lord, to call Christmas “Christmas,” to invite people into the heart of this feast by calling them to faith in Christ. 

“Who is Jesus of Nazareth?” Others shall know our response to this question in the coming weeks from the words we use to wish them well, to the gifts we give—most particularly to those in need; from the manner in which we decorate our homes to how we commence our Christmas meals; from our description of our Christmas holidays (beforehand and afterwards); to the humble witness we give by taking the time to make a good confession and to participating in Christmas Mass. Let us resolve this Avent consciously and evangelically thereby to witness to He who is to come so that those whose faith is cold or even non-existent may themselves come to rejoice and share in His life-giving sacrificial banquet we now celebrate. +