HOMILY: Second Sunday of Advent
Matthew 3:1-12
4 December 2022
Fr. Ricky C. Montanez, AA
Do you still watch the news? There are some of us who do not want to anymore. They say doing so would only be very discouraging. I still do from time to time. I enjoy watching Karmina Constantino. The broadcast journalist who anchors the long-running ANC news show “Dateline Philippines”. She is very popular on social media. She is known to have put a few persons in their place on her news program. Once she received praise from netizens after she called out a presidential candidate for insinuating she received money from another candidate. In retrospect she said: “I didn’t think any differently of what I did. I just knew at that time that I had to do what was needed to be done, which is to correct him right away… This is precisely why we’re here in this situation (of fake news and disinformation): walang nagsasalita, hinahayaan yung mga pagkakamali. And I’ve always been that kind of person kasi eh. Whenever an opportunity presents itself to make things right, you take it.”
Isaiah and John the Baptist both deliver a message of judgment in our readings this Second Sunday of Advent. Isaiah prophesies that a Saviour would transform the world and bring it God’s peace but can only come once the ruthless who burden the poor and oppress the lowly have been cut down. Isaiah says: “He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.” (Isaiah 11:4) In the gospel passage from Matthew, John the Baptist uses harsh words to call people to repentance. John the Baptist’s message to the Pharisees and Sadducees is a scathing judgment — “You brood of vipers!” (Matthew 12:34) But John’s harsh language, unrelenting judgment and uncompromising challenge, was a demand that people give a wholehearted response to by evaluating their personal lives and seeing what gets in the way of their fidelity to God. The prophet Isaiah and John the Baptist courageously called out the sins and wrong doings rampant in society at that time which needed correcting and changing.
We can imagine that not everyone believed them or received the message well. For sure, some were angered, offended and perhaps even attacked John as well. Do we like to be told off or called out? Obviously not! This is true especially when the truth hurts and the words can be scathing. This is because we tend to protect ourselves at all cost. However, it is important for us to take criticism with grace. For those of us who give criticism, let us make sure it is constructive, so the person is encouraged to take a long hard honest look at himself/herself and to see the opportunity to right what is wrong. For our young people, do you become very upset with your parents when they tell you off? Do you sense that your parents seem to think that you are not doing anything right? As you are still young, it is expected that you will make lots of mistakes but these of course are opportunities for growth. Your parents, your elders should take it upon themselves to guide and to correct you. Yes, they love you and they want you to make better choices in the future.
Sisters and brothers, let us remember that not all those who call us out would only like to put us down, mar our name or intentionally destroy our reputation. Sometimes, we have a tendency to think that this is so in the heat of the moment. There are those who are simply concerned for our well-being and desire that we become better. Sometimes, it is by being painfully honest that we gain insight into ourselves leading us to change. Change can only happen if we are willing to step back, assess ourselves and our reactions, and endeavour to put ourselves on the straight path to reconfigure whatever behaviour impedes us from becoming persons of integrity.
To some of us who are calling people out, let us make sure that before minding other people’s flaws and incapacities, we have early on doubly prompted and corrected ourselves. John the Baptist was believed by many because he lived a life that manifested what he proclaimed. He practiced what he preached. It is difficult to tell a child not to lie when we ourselves are lying. How can they believe us? The integrity of John the Baptist’s way of life gave his words power, which also drew many to him and challenged them to live lives of the same integrity.
During the time of Isaiah and John the Baptist the people needed to be readied for the coming of the Messiah. John portrays the One coming after him as a farmer with a threshing fork in His hand, tossing wheat and husks up into the wind. As He does so, only the wheat (that is of substance) will fall back and be stored. The husks are of no use and would simply be blown away. Why is it important for us now to change our ways and to correct the wrongs in our midst? It is because we are waiting for the Second Coming of Christ. It is because upon His return, He, the King shall separate the sheep from the goats. Hence, we have to ready ourselves while we still can.
Our readings this Sunday invite us to take a hard look at ourselves and see what is within us that opposes God’s ways and that rejects Christ’s coming and reigning in our lives. What is it within us that needs to change? John the Baptist’s challenge still rings true to most of us: “Change your ways, be open to God’s Spirit of change and renewal.” For this week, let us pray that we may be humble enough when we are criticised and let us try to understand and determine what change would be needed so that we can become pleasing to Christ.
Sunday Gospel Reflections 