HOMILY – SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT - Year B

 

By Deacon Jerry Franzen     12/10/23      Cathedral

Isaiah 40: 1-5, 5-9      2 Peter 3: 8-14     Mark 11:1-8

 

Praised be Jesus Christ.  Good Morning.

Last weekend the word was “Watch”, “Be alert.”

Don’t be caught “off guard” when you meet the Lord at your death

so that you may be glorified when He is glorified at His second coming.

Today the buzz word is “Prepare.”

Advent is a season of preparation, but it is much more

than preparing for the celebration of Christmas.

You have heard this before, but it bears repeating.

We prepare by bringing Jesus more and more into our lives.

Advent is ultimately aimed at our preparation for our

joining with Jesus in everlasting life.

 It’s also our yearly reminder that we must prepare for the final coming 

of Jesus by bringing Jesus more into our earthly lives here and now.

Saying it is easy, but how do we do it?

       I

None of us can do it alone.

The people of Israel had the prophets,

like Isaiah and later John the Baptist.

The people of the early church had the apostles, especially Peter,

as their leader and Paul as the chief missionary.

And we have had all of those and saints, doctors of the Church,

popes, bishops, priests and lay people as examples of how to do just that

 ever since.

I am reminded of those around me, who have helped me

to welcome Jesus more and more into my life.

My parents were primarily responsible for that in my early life.

My wife, my children and my friends have taken over now

in my later life.

But I can’t forget my teachers.  Here are a few from the many.

 

My sixth grade teacher told my mother that I was lazy;

that teacher thought that I would benefit from attending

the Latin School.

I was challenged to grow, and it seems

that I have thrived on challenge ever since.

One can’t be lazy and be prepared; we must be diligent

in our preparation to be with Jesus in eternal life.

 

A high school Math teacher provided some of those challenges

in the form of quick recall questions like, “What’s a third plus a half?”

A quick answer of five-sixths was expected. 

When I gave the wrong answer and tried to correct it with, 

“Oh, I mean ......”

The teacher would simply reply,

“Oh! Say what you mean, and mean what you say.”

Integrity is important in our preparation

for being with Jesus in eternal life.

 

A college English teacher was the first person

to teach me how to write a research paper.

The first step is to gather information on the topic.

We need a lot of truthful information in our preparation

for being with Jesus in eternal life.

We must always be seeking knowledge and learning

to bring Jesus more into our lives.

My college teacher of Physical Chemistry decided that,

with only three senior students (me included) in the class,

it might be best if the students took charge of teaching the material

to one another by presenting it in a seminar format.

Sharing how Jesus is in our lives helps each of us

to bring Jesus more into our own lives.

 

And then there is my first spiritual director,

 who listened to what was happening in my life,

 who critiqued my first practice homilies,

 and commented on projects I undertook.

She always helped me to keep focus by asking me,

"Now, where is God in all of this?”

God must be at the center of all that we do in preparation.

 

Even though four of these teachers were not dealing

in subjects related to faith, they each have had a part

in helping me to bring Jesus more into my life.

Diligence, integrity, seeking knowledge, sharing our faith

and having our lives “God-centered.”

Those are important in our preparation.

                                                          II

Today’s reading from Isaiah leaves no room for laziness.

We are to make a straight highway through a wasteland

 for our God to enter into our lives,

In some respects, we do live in that wasteland.

We can become very complacent and lazy about our sinfulness.

Advent is the time to straighten that path and to remove any obstacles.

The Sacrament of Penance will be available as usual

on Friday from noon -1:00 PM and on Saturday from 3:00 PM-4:00 PM

including the Friday and Saturday before Christmas.

Don’t be lazy; St. Peter said in the second reading,

“Be eager to be found without spot or blemish.”

 

There must be a correspondence between

 what we say and what we mean and then what we do?”

Do we act as though we truly await the “new heavens and the new earth

in which righteousness dwells?”

 Advent is a time to examine the integrity of the faith

we profess to see if it corresponds to the faith we live.

 

At the very beginning of St. Mark’s Gospel the author quoted

the prophet Isaiah of the Old Testament.

The author had been obviously schooled in the Old Testament.

Knowledge of the truth of our faith can go a long way toward

straightening that path to Jesus.

We must grow in knowledge by gathering the truth from what is out

there in scripture, in tradition and in other spiritual writings.

 

The “people of the whole Judean countryside and all of the inhabitants

of Jerusalem” were sharing their faith in God’s mercy as they

 acknowledged their sins and were baptized by John.”

Part of our preparation during Advent

can be in sharing our faith with others.

There is a community-wide element to our preparation;

WE prepare just as the candidates and catechumens

also prepare for Jesus to come to them.

 

Whatever you do, keep God at the center.

Talk to those around you, parents, children, relatives 

about how and why God sent his Son.

Let your friends know that God is important to you

and that you pray to him.

Don’t be afraid to praise God.  Be sure to thank God every day.

Know that God has given you whatever is needed to deal with the worst.

Know that God is there in the midst of all you do.

That whole first reading from the prophet Isaiah is centered on God.

                                                            III

God was there for me in those five teachers:

My sixth grade teacher – Sr. Catherine David

of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth

My Math teacher – Sister Evangelista of the Order of St. Benedict

My English teacher – Sister Loretta Marie

of the Convent of Divine Providence

My Chemistry teacher – Sister Rita Marie of the Sisters of Notre Dame

My first Spiritual Director – Sister Barbara Ann

of the Sisters of the Precious Blood.

 

They each did so much for me in my continuing preparation for Jesus

to be in my life.

Many others like them, sisters and brothers, in religious orders

have done so much to help so many to welcome Jesus into their lives.

They have done it as teachers, as hospital workers, as missionaries,

as administrators in schools and hospitals, in parishes as pastoral

associates and DRE’s, as advocates for the poor, as diocesan workers.

 

It is no accident that these teachers, dear to me,

have been included in this homily.

On next Sunday, the collection for the Retirement Fund for the Religious

will take place.

This is a yearly collection to provide funds for the retirement 

of sisters and brothers who have served the church so faithfully.

They have dedicated their lives to God’s work;

many now find that, because of the infirmity of old age,  

they must retire from their active ministry.

Since most of these sisters and brothers were paid little for their work,

their orders did not have the opportunity to set aside

sufficient funds to provide for their retirement.

 

With so many sisters and brothers in retirement now

and with the lower populations of younger members

to bring in salaries to the orders, these orders are in need

of our financial help.

Please be generous in your support for the Retirement Fund for the

Religious next weekend.

By helping these sisters and brothers to live out their lives

in their religious communities, we can help them

to continue to prepare for the coming of Jesus.