Theme: “Go and Proclaim with Faith”
2nd Sunday of Advent- Year A December 4, 2022
First Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 72;1-2,3-4,5-6,7-8
Second Reading: Romans 15:4-7, 13
Gospel Reading: Matthew 3:1-12
Our Advent readings focused on these words… be watchful, prepared, and ready.
And these should be our attitude as people of God. (Fr. Jun)
To be watchful is to be careful with our lives and our hearts. We should be always on guard with what’s in our hearts, not allowing bad things to come in and ruin our happiness. Hatred, anger, and unforgiveness should have no place in our hearts.
Preparing… for something good that will come to our lives. “Because every encounter with Jesus always brings joy to us”, in prayer and in Eucharist, there is always something good that is bound to happen. But the question is, are we prepared? Oftentimes, we miss out on the things God prepared for us because of unpreparedness. Advent is not just a preparation of Christmas; it is a preparation of our hearts for the second coming of Christ. The coming of Christ to us in prayer and in Eucharist, signifies God’s desire to live with us. He wants to share, to stay in our lives. He wants to be part of our homes, of our families, dealing with our kids and simply living with us. But sometimes we miss out on this act of love of God because we are not prepared. There are so many things God has prepared for us every day, but often, these good news turn out to be bad news because of our unpreparedness.
If we’ve been watchful of our hearts, and have been preparing our lives, then we are ready for His coming. Whatever circumstances or happenings or situations we will be facing, we are ready! And basically, this is what Advent is about. We prepare for God’s daily visitation to us, for the whole year. We can expect the worst to happen, but we can hope for the best to come, since we are ready. Expecting the worst requires a tough mind. We should be tough in facing and dealing the circumstances of life. And the best way to start this year is to have the attitude of hope. We should always learn to start with hope so that we can reach our destination. There are many things in this world that we cannot control and sometimes, we need the grace of God to accept the things we cannot change but at the same time hopeful because of what God has promised.
Today, we lit the second candle of Advent, symbolizing faith. It is good always to have the attitude of hope but it cannot suffice our being prepared and ready for the things that will be coming. Faith is about having a plan of action for the things we hope for. If we want to change things in our life; if we want to get out from poverty, from misery then we should start changing what we are doing so that things around us will change too.
Finally, Father Jun encouraged us to hope and trust God. This is faith, setting goals and having a plan of action. God does not only believe in us, He trusts us also. And if God believes in you, you should also believe in yourself.
Recap by:
MERCY DE LA CRUZ-ESPIRITU
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