Scripture Reflection for the Second Sunday of Advent:
Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
Romans 15:4-9
Matthew 3:1-12
Are we ready for a change?
Well, it’s coming. We are here in the Second Sunday of Advent – in the desert, with a strange and disheveled figure dining on wild food and proclaiming that we need to make ourselves ready for the Lord. Welcome to the John the Baptist Era.
For two Sundays in the middle of this season, he is our guide, our challenger, our disciplinarian – and our reminder. Consider him a kind of prophetic Post-It note tacked to the calendar, with one word scribbled in bold black ink: “Prepare!”
Yes, we know: Christmas is coming. But more importantly, Christ is coming. What are we going to do about it?
We tend to think of John the Baptist as the voice – the forerunner, the prophet, the one crying in the wilderness.
And he is.
But at this moment, maybe we should think of him another way. Whether we realize it or not, this bedraggled wild man is actually a prophet of hope. More than an ominous, fearsome figure, we should see him for what he is: the saint of second chances. This is a time to get busy, get ready, get real and get all of our spiritual loose ends tied up.
During this season of Advent, John the Baptist calls out to us, imploring us” Get right with God, he tells us. Repent. Seize the day, this day.
Prepare.
He appears in the desert of our days to remind us that this time is about more than folding open the cardboard windows of an Advent calendar and preparing for Santa Claus – and it’s actually about more than just getting ready for the Baby Jesus in the manger.
It is also about getting ready for Christ’s final coming at the end of history.
So, St. John the Baptist appears in the desert, clears his throat, and calls out to us. Change is coming. Something new is about to begin.
The saint of second chances could be considered the patron of procrastinators – telling us the time for change is now. Don’t put it off.
Looked at another way: He’s the saint of starting over. He is the saint of “I’m sorry. Let’s talk.”
He is the saint of “Where did I go wrong?” and “How can I make this right?” He is the saint of “I’m addicted and I need help.” He is the saint of “Bless me, father, for I have sinned…” He is the saint of the slammed door being re-opened, the phone being picked up, the broken fence being mended, the raw wound being healed.
Last week, we began a new liturgical year. Seen that way, this is a time for making New Year’s resolutions. It is a time for resolving to live differently, pray differently, love differently. It’s a moment to resolve to make room for God – the One who will be coming to us as a child, and arriving in a world that, as the Gospel puts it, had no room for him.
This is a moment to hear from the saint of second chances – and take hold of every chance that comes our way.
There is plenty of time ahead to prepare for Christmas; cards are waiting to be signed and lights to be hung. But here and now, let’s listen to John the Baptist. Let’s use this early moment in Advent to prepare for Christ. As another prophet tells us in the first reading: “A shoot will sprout and a bud shall blossom.”
The world is about to be made new.
Are we ready?
Deacon Greg Kandra is an award-winning author and journalist, and creator of the blog “The Deacon’s Bench.”
