December 06, 2015
2nd Sunday of Advent
1st Reading: Bar 5:1-9
2nd Reading:
Phil 1:4-6, 8-11
Gospel: Lk 3:1-6
It was the fifteenth year of the rule of the Emperor Tiberius; Pontius Pilatus was governor of Judea; Herod ruled over Galilee, his brother Philip ruled over the country of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias over Abilene. Annas and Caiaphas were the High Priests at that time when the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah in the desert.
John proclaimed a baptism for repentant people to obtain forgiveness of sins and he went through the whole country bordering the Jordan River. It was just as is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah: listen to this voice crying out in the desert: prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. The valleys will be filled and the mountains and hills made low. Everything crooked will be made straight and the rough paths smooth; and every mortal will see the salvation of God.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
The theme of Advent is repentance. In the light of John the Baptist’s call that we prepare the way of the Lord and make straight his path, our reflection on repentance will include charity. John the Baptist’s call boils down to these two. It is through repentance that we prepare the way of the Lord that leads to our lives; it is through charity that we make straight his path that leads to others.
When we refuse to repent, we lock God out of our lives. God will leave us where we are because he cannot violate our freedom. But why do people refuse to repent? Foremost of the many reasons is pride. A proud person will never accept that he has done something wrong because he thinks he is the measure of morality.
Making straight his path is about being good stewards. We are the paths through which God channels his material blessings to the poor. When our businesses, for example, are blessed, it is God’s way of blessing our workers. When we refuse to pay our workers the wage required by law, we become crooked channels of God’s grace. Being such, we clog God’s distribution channels. By our concrete practices of charity we make straight the path of the Lord that leads to others.
Charity requires gratitude. One who feels indebted to God will seek for ways to make a return to the Lord (Psalm 116:12). The contrary is true in the case of the ungrateful. Not recognizing that all he has comes from God, he doesn’t feel obliged to share because he insists that everything he has is fruit of his hard labor. Charity makes our repentance substantial because after all, charity covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). —Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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