A man named John Hakel says his three-year-old daughter looked at a calendar and asked him, "Daddy, how many BE GOOD days until Christmas?"1
On the Second Sunday of Advent, we meet John the Baptist in the Desert: Luke 3:2: “the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.” The voice is from John the Baptist, who says, “Prepare the way of the Lord,” by repentance.
John the Baptism models for us the spirit and practice of detachment from sensible things and from self. Clearly, if our minds are preoccupied with worldly interests and affairs, and our souls agitated by too human an affection, by jealously, resentments, we shall not be to converse with our Lord. If during the day we criticize our superior or boss, or fail in docility to them, we will find it hard to find the presence of God in prayer. All inordinate inclinations must be mortified so that charity may take the uncontested first place in our soul and rise spontaneously to God in distress as well as consolation.
The prophetic voice of John says, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” We hear that “The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.”
The verb “go” means walk forward and has a biblical association for “walk straight” which is morally straight.
We need God’s help not to deviate or compromise God’s standards of chastity, virtue, and wholesomeness.
With God’s grace, we are all faced with the necessity of fighting against sin and temptation in this fallen world. The fight against sin is particularly difficult when a sin has developed into a habit. Fortunately, we have the advice and experience of others to help us in this battle. Spiritual writers have long focused on certain basic practices:
1. Have a deep conviction that a) the habit ought to be uprooted and b) that this can be done;
2. Protect oneself from dangerous occasions of sin by a) avoiding those that are voluntary and b) by making necessary occasions remote;
3. Practice self-discipline by a) mortification of senses and
heart and b) by keeping busy;
4. Practice a) prayer and b) frequentation of the sacraments
However, our conviction that it can be uprooted is not founded on our own strength alone, but by the infinite power of God. It can also include the help of others whether it be the intercession of the saints, the assistance of a support group, and to have an “accountability partner.”2
The prophetic voice in our First Reading also speaks of joy, “ put on the splendor of glory from God forever,”… “God is leading Israel in joy by the light of his glory, with his mercy and justice for company.”
It was originally addressed to the exiles in Babylon by the prophet Isaiah, telling them that the way back home meant the preparation of a highway for God. For us, the road home to heaven keeps opening and appearing as we walk the walk.
Joy comes from single-minded pursuit of God, surrendering to God’s will, which also brings liberation from slavery to self-will: freedom to be the people God calls us to be.3
Joy doesn't happen when we get what we want… It is much more likely to happen when we do not get what we want and we find ourselves laughing instead of crying, because God's ideas are so much better than ours, ….It is there, in that wilderness, in that empty-handed, I-give-up [and] surrender [is when] that joy is most likely to occur….because no one else knows how to make life out of death.”4
Joy is the fruit of obedience. When a man is ordained to the diaconate and the priesthood—you kneel before the bishop at one point after the homily and you put your folded hands into his. Then he looks into your eyes and says, “Do you promise respect and obedience to me and to my successors?”
You respond, “I do.” (At least, you had better respond, “I do”! If you say, “I don’t”, the ceremony immediately ends, and you go home!) 5
Once you’ve made this public promise of obedience to him, the bishop says these words: “May God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfillment,” which we heard in our Second Reading.
St. Paul is praising the Philippians when he expresses his confidence since they were the only one’s generous enough to support him in his time of struggle (Phil. 4:14-16). In 2:12 we also read of their obedience, which was the source of Paul’s confidence in them.6
Advent is not a penitential season; it’s a period of devout and expectant delight, yet we intuitively understand that it is not possible coherently to celebrate the birth of him "who saves his people from their sins" without some effort to overcome sin in one's own life.
A concluding illustration:
The dangerous I-90 "bulge" on the original floating bridge to Seattle was designed to allow that section of the bridge to open for boats. One night in 1978, a young lady disappeared after failing to navigate around the void at night. When rebuilding the bridge in the 80's, her car was found submerged on the bottom of the structure.
After 41 years of service, more than 300 accidents, and four deaths, that dangerous S-curve was removed in 1981 and replaced by a straight, immovable section.
"The law tells me how crooked I am. Grace comes along and straightens me out.”
Amen.
1. Adam Christing, Comedy comes Clean, 1996
2. The Spiritual Life: A Treatise on Ascetical and Mystical Theology by Fr. Adolphe Tanquerey, #876-882
3. Patricia Harriss CJ, Mary David: The Joy: Collected Writings (London: Bloomsbury, Continuum, 2019). pp.208
4. Barbara Brown Taylor, Joy in the Jewish Tradition according to Rabbi Israel Miller, The Living Pulpit, January 1, 1996
5. Father Raymond Suriani, May God, Who Began A Good Work In You, Bring It To Fulfillment, This homily was given on December 10, 2006 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I.
6. Trent Horn, Can We Lose Our Salvation?, Catholic Answers Magazine online, 2/28/2013
