2nd Sunday in Advent
VOCATION: Jesus calls us - He calls us to follow Him, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to become a missionary disciple....
Homily MP3 version - PDF version
What are the offerings that we bring to God? What is the meaning of "HOSANNAH!" We acclaim God for his greatness and praise Him, while at the same time calling upon Him to rescue us in our distress.... "HOSANNAH!" MP3 version
“Alleluia. Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia!”
Hello, Sisters! Brothers! Have you ever kicked a soft drink dispensing machine? Maybe you haven’t, but you probably have felt frustration with something mechanical, or more likely, with another human being. It is so very human to experience frustration and even anger when things go badly or don’t work properly or when what we expect to happen just isn’t happening.
Fr. Francis is available right now to receive you if you would like to meet Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we make a good confession, Jesus sets us free from our sins, our regrets, and from anything holding us prisoner and preventing us from being fully alive.
“Alleluia. Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia!”
Well, it’s hard to admit the truth to myself, and it’s even harder to admit the truth to others, but it is not uncommon for us Christians to feel frustrated with God. We pray and we pray for some intention and we wait and we wait for the answer to come, and for various reasons, we feel as though God is not answering us. At least, the answer we want just isn’t happening.
Fr. Francis is available right now to receive you if you would like to meet Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we go before the priest to make a confession, it is Jesus Himself, in Person, who listens to us, suggests to the priest what to say to us, gives us his mercy and forgiveness, asks us to make a penance or gesture of thanks, and sends us on our way with his blessing. Jesus needs us to be his witnesses in our world as his missionary disciples. When we put our weakness in his hands, we allow Jesus to manifest his power through us.
“Alleluia. Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia!”
During Advent, the Word of God spoken to us is so beautiful and encouraging. Through the prophet Isaiah – almost 800 years before Jesus – the Lord spoke of the coming of the Messiah, the promised Anointed One who would bring perfect peace to humanity and to nature itself. We all know only too well that both humanity and nature are still in terrible trouble today. There are wars in many places on Earth and our natural environment is in deep trouble. We could well ask: “Lord, why aren’t You doing something about all of these troubles?”
This is how the Lord Jesus
answers us, as He does every day: “My Father and I are
doing everything we can with the Holy Spirit. The Father sent Me, and I came.
There was no room for me in Bethlehem and I accepted to be born in a stable
among the animals. My Mother Mary and Joseph accepted to endure these things
with complete trust in the Father. Join with us.”
“Alleluia. Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia!”
We just heard the voice of John the Baptist denouncing the religious leaders of his day: “But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, John said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance.”” The others coming to John for baptism in the Jordan River were sincere in their intention to make a change in their lives, but the religious leaders considered themselves to be perfect and above reproach. They blamed everyone else for the troubles of their world.
We are preparing to enter into the joy of Christmas which explodes within us when we see God coming to live among us as a Baby. This Baby will grow up into the Son of Man who will accept to take on Himself the blame for all the sins and troubles of the world. Jesus doesn’t ask us to carry the weight of the whole world on our shoulders, because He is already doing that, but He does ask us to admit our own part, to stop blaming others, and to confess our own sins.
“Alleluia. Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia!”
We all carry a darkness deep in our soul… our refusal to admit the truth about ourselves, not wanting to humble ourselves before God, thinking we don’t need to go to confession. Jesus wants to shine the Light of his truth to dispel the darkness deep within us. His Light is gentle, but it is a divine Fire which burns away all that is sinful, bitter, impure, untrue, false, to make room for the love, peace, goodness, truth, and beauty which are in the Most Holy Trinity. Fr. Francis is still available to help you meet Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
In a few moments, it will be time to place at the altar our offering to God. It is ourselves that we offer: all that we carry within us, our hopes and our fears, our desires and our regrets, and even our sins and our repentance. Let us open wide our spirit to God; so that He may do in us all that He desires to do: to forgive, to heal, and to give life.
“Alleluia. Alleluia. Prepare the way of
the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Alleluia!”
“Mary Queen of Peace, pray for us. St.
Joseph, pray for us. St. Brother André, pray for us. St. Kateri, pray for us. All you holy women and men, pray for us. O my Jesus, I trust in You! Thank You; You who are God, the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
In silence now, the Holy Spirit continues to fill us with
the blazing Light of God.
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