2nd Sunday of Advent Year C: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima
Theme: How to realize the Kingdom established by Christ
Readings: (1st: Is. 11 1–10; Ps: 71, 1–2.7–8.12–13; 2nd: Rom 15, 4–9; Gosp: Mtt 3, 1–12)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this second Sunday of Advent comes with a message of consolation to our world that has been battered by bad leadership. It brings us the promise of a king who will not rule over us like the kings and governments we have known on earth, a king whose reign will be marked with global peace and justice for the poor and all humanity. It also invites us to prepare the way for the arrival of this king in our lives.
The first reading of today presents us God’s response through the prophet Isaiah to the people of Israel when their faith in Him was being weakened by the bad examples of their kings and leaders. Recall that the reign of king David over Israel was marked by prosperity, peace, victory in war and justice to the people. However, after the death of David, the kings who succeeded him were unable to maintain his good legacies, they failed to maintain peace and justice in the kingdom of Israel. They rather chose the way of corruption, worship of pagan gods and alliances against the will of God and the counsel of the prophets. These unfaithful practices of those successors of David weakened the loyalty and faith of the people to God. Then, many Israelites began to wonder if God will ever intervene in their troubles.
It was in the midst of those doubts, weakness of faith and suffering on the part of the people of Israel that the prophet Isaiah made the prophesies of the first reading of today. In these prophesies, Isaiah dispelled the fears of the people, gave them reasons to keep their hope in God alive by promising them the coming of a new Davidic king from the root of Jesse, a king who will be greater than king David. Isaiah went ahead to list the qualities of this new king. He said: the spirit of the lord shall rest upon him; he will possess wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord; he will establish peace and justice in the kingdom, he will judge the poor and the whole world with righteousness.
The Psalm of today also listed the beautiful qualities of this new king and the elegance of his kingdom. It says ‘he will judge the people with justice and the poor in right judgment. In his days justice shall flourish and great peace till the moon is no more. He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the bounds of the earth. He shall save the needy when they cry, the poor, and those are helpless. He will have pity on the weak and the needy, and save the lives of the needy.’
Isaiah also painted a beautiful picture of what the kingdom of this new king will look like. It will be a kingdom of peace and tranquility, a kingdom where natural enemies will live in peace and mutual help. For example: wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard with the kid, the calf with the lions, etc. It will be a kingdom where naturally strong animals will give up their strength in order to accept and live with the weaker ones as their colleagues, a kingdom where people will not use their natural privileges to oppress the weak, but rather to support them.
Dear friends, the beautiful kingdom described in the vision of Isaiah was the kingdom inaugurated by Jesus, the Son of David, when he walked on the streets of Jerusalem preaching the good news of peace and love, and, then, finalized it with his death on the cross. To prepare the people for the inauguration of that kingdom, John the Baptist preached the message of repentance and forgiveness of sins to the people of Jerusalem according to the gospel of today. He said, ‘repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’; ‘prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight’. He cautioned the Pharisees and Sadducees to abandon their life of pretense and embrace true repentance.
Dear friends, the message of John the Baptist is what the church is also giving us this advent as we prepare for the celebration of the birth of Christ and His second coming. Christ has already established that kingdom of the vision of Isaiah, but our sins continue to obstruct its full realization in our lives and in our world. So, when we repent from our sins, embrace true Christian life, forgive those who have offended us and stop every form of pretense, we will make way in our lives and in our homes for the realization of the kingdom of peace and love, of justice and righteousness which Christ established on earth.
In the second reading of today, St Paul informed us that a reformation of life is what will guarantee the realization of the reign of peace and justice in our society. In this reading, he prayed for the reformation of the Jewish Christians of Rome, that they may live in harmony with their Gentile Christian brothers and sisters, accepting them as equals, while waiting for the second coming of Jesus. Dear friends, when we live in harmony with our neighbours, friends and family members, we create room for the reign of peace, love, justice and tranquility. In fact, when we live in harmony with other people, the kingdom of Christ will reign in our midst.
The vision of Isaiah urges us to live harmoniously with others; it tells us not to use our natural strength and privileges to oppress other people, especially the weak ones among us; it invites us to rather use our natural abilities and resources to support our weak brothers and sisters. This is a very beautiful way to prepare for Christmas.
Peace be with you.
Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima