Thoughts from the Second Floor Front II Sunday of Advent
December 5, 2021
Advent moves too quickly. My personal theory, which I will share with the regular reader of this weekly effort, is that we have just about lost Advent. We are holding onto Lent with a fairly firm grip. But Advent has slipped under the surface beneath the rising tide of commercialism and seasonal sentiment that tends to dominate these four weeks. With a wisdom only She possesses, the Church exhorts us to seize the moment, seize this moment and recognize the presence of the Lord about to dawn in our midst. There will be plenty of time to engage in the sentimentality of the holidays but now is the time to recognize that change that is happening all around us as well as the change that can happen within us. The last year and a half should be motivation enough to live in a manner that recognizes we are to be different because of all that we have endured All the more, we are to be different because of all that we have been given. The ancient writer Baruch knows that and is trying to convince his readers of the importance of living with a sense of urgency to bring about a transformation within ourselves, even as the world around us is being transformed.
I do not mean to encourage you to make an early New Year’s resolution. The exhortation given to us is to recognize and to celebrate the freedom we enjoy. That freedom is not limited to a nation. The freedom we enjoy is that we have been made different through our Baptism and that transformation is affirmed and renewed in our prayer and our discipleship. Paul is exhorting the believers in Philippi to remain faithful to that which they have been called. Paul wrote the letter while in prison, awaiting execution. Despite that, the letter is shot through with Paul’s joy in the faithful. He is joyful because of them. Philippians is known as the letter of joy because in it Paul rejoices in the faith that they have in Christ Jesus based on their “true understanding of Christ’s unique role in the salvation of all who profess his lordship.” (NAB)
The same urgency heard in Baruch’s voice and in Paul’s letter is paramount in the excerpt from Luke’s gospel. In the passage we hear on this the Second Sunday of Advent, the Evangelist places the birth of Jesus, The Incarnation, in a specific time and place.
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas…
(Lk. 3:1-2a)
The definitive work on the Third Gospel was written in the middle of the last century by a German scholar, Hans Conzelmann. In it he posited a theory of St. Luke’s view of world history in which the Evangelist envisioned three epochs. The first is lengthy, it is the time of the Jews. The time period begins when God called Abram and intervened in human history. This lasts until the beginning of the Public Ministry, the time of Jesus. This epoch is very brief, about three year and ends with the Ascencion. The third and final epoch is now, the time of the Church. and lasts until the Second Coming.
That is why the readings throughout the Sacred Season of Advent are marked by such urgency. That is why John the Baptist quotes Isaiah: Prepare. There is an immediate demand made on us as Jesus’ disciples. We are to prepare ourselves and our world as best we can. It is time to engage in a transformation, moving away from those things which prevent us from recognizing Jesus in our time. We have a very technical theological word for that which keeps us from recognizing Jesus. We call it sin. If you believe that you have no sin you are either attempting to deceive yourself or you’ve joined a new age religion. We have sinned but we have also been justified through Jesus who has offered Himself for us. Seize these moments of Advent and be transformed as the deserts were transformed. Do not stay in the wilderness. Live and share the light and love that God has shown to us.