December 7/Second Sunday of Advent
[John the Baptist said to the Pharisees and Sadducees,] “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’” ~ Matt 3.8-9
Spiritual smugness and religious complacency are occupational hazards of participating in a two-thousand-year-old belief system. If we are fortunate enough to have been raised in a specific faith tradition, we have probably grown up with certain rites, rituals, and religious expectations. We attend church on Sundays. We accurately recite the formulas and prayers of the liturgy. We correctly perform the external actions of worship — kneeling, standing, making the sign of the Cross, opening the hymnal (except for Catholics, of course, because as everyone knows, many Catholics do not sing!). But underneath that pious veneer, are we truly in touch with the immediate experience of the living God? Do we genuinely seek God’s mercy as we intone the Kyrie Eleison? Are we actually giving God grateful thanks as we sing the Gloria? Do we truly count ourselves blessed by the extraordinary gift that Christ gives of himself in the Eucharist? Are we really going forth glorifying the Lord at the end of the liturgy? Or are we merely riding on the coattails of tradition, like the Pharisees whom John excoriates in today’s Gospel reading? John has no patience for those who rely only on their religious heritage as evidence of their virtue. He demands nothing less than complete conversion of heart. The repentance John calls for is a reshaping of the inner self, what the Greeks called metanoia. Bringing a contemplative and open attitude towards our individual prayer and our corporate worship will allow us to hear what God is saying to us in our lives. And as we deepen that relationship with God and gradually align our will with his, then we will begin to produce good fruit.
O God, May my heart and my soul be truly open to your Word during this season of preparation. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120725.cfm
To hear the Choir of St. Edmunsbury Cathedral sing “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIRaIYzLf8E&list=RDUIRaIYzLf8E&start_radio=1
