2^nd Sunday of Advent (A); December 7, 2025

Is 11:1-10.  Ps 72.  Rom 15:4-9.  Mt 3:1-12

Deacon Jim McFadden

       On the second Sunday of Advent, Matthew calls us to encounter the intriguing figure of John the Baptist, a gritty, down-to-earth, ‘in your face’ prophet.  The text says that John “wore a garment of camel’s hair” and that “his food was locusts and wild honey” (Mt 3:4).  His appearance is not exactly the GQ look and his diet was the ultimate lean cuisine. If John was living in the ‘60s, we’d  probably dismiss him as a hippy.  Despite his hard scrabble demeanor, people were flocking to him as we hear that “At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him” (v. 5).

         And, what did they hear?  What was John’s message?  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v. 2).  He was preaching that the Kingdom of God was coming.  He was an austere and radical man because he cut to the quick: we must embrace conversion if we’re going to become Kingdom people. 

         John was more than an eccentric harsh man, he was one who didn’t tolerate duplicity—in fact, he was allergic to it!  For example, when the Pharisees and Sadducees, who were probably there out of curiosity wondering what drew so many people to the wilderness to hear this wild guy, his allergic reaction to them was quite strong.  When confronted with John’s blunt appeal to repent, they probably  sniffed and rolled their eyes saying “We have Abraham as our father” (v. 9).  Why should we repent?  We’re the professional religious who have all the answers.  Because they were stuck in duplicity and presumption, they would not be able to welcome the moment of grace, the opportunity to begin a new life.  They were so convinced of being right—where everyone else is wrong—that they dug in their heals, to which John implored: “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (v. 8).  John is not being frustrated, but he’s coming from a place of love.  He’s like a father who sees his wayward son throwing his life away over things that don’t really matter.  So, he’s pleading with them: “Don’t throw your life away!”  Hypocrisy is a grave danger to all of us because it can ruin our most sacred realities, especially our Catholic faith.  That’s why John, as would Jesus, be very harsh with hypocrites.  The antidote to religious bravura is humility.  This is the path to welcoming God, which we do at every Holy Mass as we begin with the Confiteor, as we all admit that we are all sinners who have sinned in “what we have done and failed to do, in thought word and deed.”  We are all sinners; that’s not an abstract notion, but a bald face fact of our human existence.  So each of us have to confess our sins, take ownership of our failings, and our hypocrisy.  It means getting off our pedestal as we look down upon others and embrace repentance, an ongoing conversion of heart and soul.

         John and his allergic reaction to hypocrisy makes us think: what would he say to our Catholic brothers and sisters, 75% of whom do not attend Holy Mass on Sunday?  Do we really believe that Jesus is really present in the consecrated bread and wine or is it just a symbol?  If it’s just a symbol, to quote the great Catholic writer Flannery O’Conner, “it’s not worth a damn!”  If we believe in the Real Presence, how can we stay away?

         We can’t have it both ways: there are no part-time Catholics as it is a 24/7, lifelong commitment as we embrace discipleship.  So, to do that—to live our baptismal promises of being priest, prophet, and king –we need to take off our masks and be assured that each and every one of us has one and not to align ourselves  with the high and mighty who seemingly have  their acts together, but with the humble, the anawim—the poor, marginalized, and oppressed.  And as we live Matthew 25—“what you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me”—we will rid ourselves of the conceit of being individually self-sufficient, so that we can confess our sins, especially the hidden ones  no one can see, and to welcome God’s pardon, to ask forgiveness for those whom we have offended.  This is what repentance is about: this is how we begin a new life.  There is no Plan B: John is showing us the way of repentance and humility and we do so in the fellowship of our brothers and sisters who recognize that Jesus comes to us just as we are: with our brokenness, woundedness, and spiritual poverty.  If we embrace repentance, then Jesus can lift us up, forgiven, and saved.

         May Mary, the humble servant of the Lord, help us to meet her Son Jesus, as well as our brothers and sisters on the way of humility. Mary can show us the way.  Amen.

Reflection Questions:

1. How would you react to John the Baptist if he showed up at our parish?
2. What does repentance look like in your life?
3. Humility goes hand-in-glove with repentance.  How so?