Second Sunday of Advent / Msgr. Owen F. Campion
The Sunday Readings
The Book of Baruch, the source of the first reading for Mass this weekend, is relatively brief, only five chapters. It also is among the books called by Protestants scholars the Apocrypha. As such, it does not appear in the King James Version of the Bible, published in 1611 or in other translations that rely upon the thinking that led to the selection of books for inclusion in the King James edition.
It is not found in ancient Jewish translations of the Scriptures. Indeed, while some of the ancient Fathers of the Church knew about and quoted Baruch, St. Jerome questioned including it in his Latin translation of the Bible, known as the Vulgate.
For Catholics, however, most important and decisive is the fact that the Church officially long ago recognized it as part of divine revelation.
Regardless, when Baruch was written, great problems beset God’s people—not a rare circumstance. This book encouraged those who were suffering, reassuring them that God would not forsake them and that God’s justice and mercy would prevail in the end.
Always, in good times or bad, some people were lukewarm in their religious devotion. Baruch calls the indifferent to piety.
St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians furnishes the next reading. Sent as a letter to the Christians of Philippi, an important city in Greece in the ancient Roman Empire, the Apostle urges the Philippians loyal to the Lord to be steadfast in their faith, come what may, until the second coming of Jesus. It was a difficult challenge, as the glory of Roman paganism surrounded the Christian Philippians.
This reading says that one day, at a time unknown, Jesus will come again in triumph and judgment. Evil will be defeated, once and for all.
St. Luke’s Gospel, the source of the last reading, centers upon Jesus, although highly visible in the reading is St. John the Baptist. Carefully constructed, the Gospel passage presents the coming of Jesus as uniquely important for human beings and in their lives.
The Lord’s coming was so important, in fact, that preceding this coming was the proclamation of God’s majesty and of human responsibility before God and of the importance of God personally to John the Baptist.
John was a prophet and a holy man. Ancient Jews thought that holiness gave people special wisdom. God used such people to reveal truth to other humans. Through John, God revealed the person and mission of Christ.
Also, to emphasize the importance of the Lord’s coming, Luke takes pains in setting the presence of John and the coming of Christ at an exact moment in history, namely by stating that it all occurred when Tiberius was emperor, Pilate his governor in Palestine and so on.
Jesus came in human time and space, in God’s mercy, fulfilling the hopes of the prophets of old who had yearned for the Redeemer who would destroy evil and death. When the Messiah comes, all will be made right. The rough ways for people would be made smooth. Now, as John the Baptist declared with such conviction, the Redeemer at last had come.
Reflection
When Baruch was written, times were bad for the Jews. When Philippians and the Gospel of Luke were written, times were hard for Christians.
On this Second Sunday of Advent, the Church speaks to us. Times are hard. We grumble about inflation. War torments many in the world. So do addiction and poverty. Today’s drift from God is spinning a deadly web.
All will be right, joy and peace will prevail when, and if, we admit Jesus into our lives. He will come to us, but we must invite the Lord into our lives sincerely by reforming ourselves with the help of God’s grace, by renouncing sin and by giving ourselves totally to God. The pronouncement of John the Baptist is addressed to us today. †