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Second Sunday of Advent

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Fr. Chad VanHoose December 9, 2018

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Recently Father Wilson and I each had the opportunity to have lunch with some of our school kids. It was a reward that they won from our marathon and so of course when you're meeting  with school kids and I think we had one kindergartener and some first-graders they always like to ask questions. So I was asked, how many bones are there in the neck of a giraffe?  It's 7, in case you're ever asked. It's the same as the number that we have, the bones are just a lot bigger. Then they asked how hot is lava inside of a volcano? Siri knew that one, but I didn't, so we trusted her and her answer. And then they asked us how old are you? And I had no problem telling them my age, but Father Wilson was a little more reserved. He claims he didn't know who they were going to tell so he held that close to his heart.

But regardless of how old I am or how old Father Wilson is or how long any human person's life is we were each born for the same reason. We were born to live. We all share this in common. This is the reason we came into the world, to live. But Archbishop Fulton Sheen, a 21st century Prophet really, of our country, whose cause for canonization is open argued that Jesus Christ is distinct from us in this matter. We came into the world to live, but Jesus Christ came into the world to die. This is one place that we are distinct from Jesus. His mission was to die and so you could say even, in a certain sense, that his life was lived backwards, that the cross overshadowed his whole life from Jerusalem all the way to the creche, the manger of Bethlehem. So in a certain way His death was first and His life was last and this is what we encounter here on this second Sunday of Advent. Our Gospel today skips over the birth and the infancy of Luke's gospel. We find those in chapters one and two, but the gospel today on the second Sunday of Advent comes from chapter 3.

And in the beginning of that chapter we encounter John the Baptist and Jesus. Both around the age of 30 but we encounter some other figures here as well. This is how Luke writes it he introduces us to Pontius Pilate, who is the governor of Judea; Herod the tetrarch of Galilee and then Annas and Caiaphas who were in their High priesthood in Jerusalem. Those names should sound familiar to us because all four of these characters play a prominent role in Jesus's passion, His death, that we hear at the end of Luke's gospel. So here at the beginning and chapter 3 Luke sets the stage for us and introduces these characters so as to introduce the reason that Jesus was born, to die. And so we could say that the church tells us the why of Jesus’ coming in this second Sunday of Advent, and again next week in the third Sunday.  Well before we discuss and talk about the how of Jesus’ coming. We don't get to that until the fourth Sunday of Advent and then into the Christmas season. And it's important for us to know first why Jesus came, that we needed a savior, we needed someone, each of us, to restore us back into right relationship with the Father that sin had caused. That division needed to be healed and so this message of preparation that we hear today is really fitting for us at the parish.

This preparation that we hear first from the Prophet Baruch. He says, take off your robe of mourning and misery and put on the Splendor of Glory from God forever wrapped in the cloak of Justice from God. So in our preparation we ought to take off those things that hinder us so that we could rejoice and could enjoy that relationship with the one whom we love. And then next we hear John the Baptist, crying in the desert, prepare a way for the Lord ,make  straight His paths. Those words from Isaiah are quoted, that every mountain and hill will be made low, every valley filled up, every crooked way made straight. This is a message of restoration and it's a message of repentance that each of us in our hearts needs to prepare that way for Jesus. To remove any obstacles that would keep us from receiving Him at His coming at Christmas.

Each of you received in the mail this weekend a postcard from All Saints, a little early Christmas card if you will, and it had all of the times we'll hear confessions here at the parish between now and Christmas Day. We really want to encourage you in this way to prepare your hearts for Christ coming, by going to the sacrament of reconciliation and entering that season of joy, the season of Christ's birth, with a clean slate. This Wednesday December 12th is our first opportunity, we will hear confessions from 2 until 8 p.m. and there will be 30 priests coming to our Parish. So there's no reason why anyone wouldn't have that opportunity to be forgiven of your sins, to come and enjoy that repentance, to prepare your heart. But if that day doesn't work, the week before Christmas on every day father Wilson and I will be hearing confessions, leading us up to that great solemnity of Christmas. There are materials in the back of the Gathering space today to help us prepare for this cleansing of ourselves before Christmas. We have a frequently asked questions sheet that you might find helpful and of course we have examinations of conscience that you can read through and prepare yourself before you to celebrate that Sacrament.

I've mentioned this before in a homily, but I'd like to reiterate that the church invites us to confess our sins at least once a year. This is a very low bar for us, but it's a very important one, that we are continually asking for God's mercy, that we would enjoy that love and relationship that He has in store for us. Now if you get in the confessional and freeze and you don't remember how it goes, don't worry, the priests will be very, very kind. We only invited kind priests on Wednesday.  So there will be 30 of them. So if you forget just ask, how do I do this again? but just so everyone's on the same page I will go over some of the basic details of confession because it may be awhile. So first you say, “Bless me Father for I have sinned” and then you say how long it's been since your last confession and then you can declare your sins to God  and to the priest. Just be open and honest so that you could receive that healing that he has for you. After you've confessed your sins the priests may give you some council and a sign of penance and then once the Penance is assigned you'll say the Act of Contrition and we will have cards there for you. Again don't worry if you don't have it memorized or you forget and then the priest will say those words of absolution over you, those words we all long to hear, that we've been forgiven. That in a way our souls have been restored to that baptismal beauty and cleanliness. These are the words that we long to hear. So brothers and sisters we should all remember that Jesus came to die. His death gives us life, the reason that we were born and if you were the only person on the face of the Earth Jesus still would have come to die for you. That's how much He loves each of us uniquely and individually. So during these weeks of Advent as we prepare for Christ coming, let us receive his love as our savior in the sacrament of his Mercy.

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