REFLECTION Sunday´s Gospel

2nd Sunday of Advent (Dec 5, 2010)
Fr James McTavish, FMVD

You brood of vipers!

There was a lion in the zoo, lying on its back, paws in the air, hoping to be fed or at least for its belly to be tickled. In the zoo he had become domesticated and had forgotten what it means to be a lion. The zoo guide was telling the crowds that this was a lion. A little boy contested “This is not a lion! This is a big pussy cat.” In an instant the zoo guide and the little boy were transported to the jungles of Sumatra. They heard a roar and on turning saw a huge lion bounding towards them. “Now that is a lion!” said the little boy excitedly!

This Christmas, Jesus is coming to remind us what it means to be human! We can say that we are only human but against what standards do we measure our humanity? God became man to remind us what it really means to be human.

We need to prepare our lives for the coming of the Lord. Two prophets help us in this week’s readings to prepare the way– Isaiah and John the Baptist. Isaiah tell us who the Messiah will be (see Isaiah 11,1-10); “The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.” This is the traditional source for the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. He also tells us that he will not judge by appearances or decide by hearsay. This week someone was telling me about a person. I kind of made up my mind about them without knowing them and was reminded that we should not judge by hearsay.

The prophet Isaiah then gives a vision of cosmic harmony; “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbours, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.” Here we have seven pairs (seven is number of fullness) who would never normally be together such as the wolf and the lamb. It is a vision of opposites living together in harmony, “with a little child to guide them.” If Jesus is the centre of our family and community there is harmony. Opposites can live together and differences can mean diversity not division.

There are aspects in us which prevent us from living in peace and harmony together. The first word of John the Baptist today is “Repent.” The greek root is metanoia, which means transform your mind or change your way of thinking. Many Saints have said “Change yourself and you change the world.” What would you like to change in you? This helps us to have a more dynamic view of human nature, not to think we are fixed, static and immobile but actually we can change, we can grow. It is interesting that people come to John the Baptist from Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan. It is like ever increasing circles of influence. Those who were going out to John the Baptist were those who acknowledged their sins. The humble recognition of our sins has far reaching consequences in our families, in the society and in the whole Body of Christ.

John the Baptist then has a go at the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He calls them a “brood of vipers”! Why? Somehow they are resting on their religious laurels, relying on the fact that they have Abraham as their Father. This can help us avoid being complacent, just relying on the fact that we are Catholic, or so called good people. We are reminded not to be presumptuous. Presumption in a theological sense is a sin against hope. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains “There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he presumes upon God's almighty power or his mercy (hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit)” (CCC 2092).

St Bernadette of Lourdes took to heart the words of the gospel today – “take the axe to the root of the tree,” applying it to root out pride. The word root reminds us to be radical. Radical in the sense of going to the root of the cause. To root out all that blocks the coming of the Lord in our lives. Not to be presumptuous! But to remember to put at least the same attention into preparing our hearts as we will into the Christmas decorations, lights and turkey! The prophets Isaiah and John the Baptist can help us. As it says in the second reading today; “For whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” Let us persevere in our humble efforts to prepare the Way of the Lord! Amen.