Second Sunday of Advent

I hope everyone had a very blessed Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception yesterday.  I totally forgot about posting my homily for last Sunday, so here it is.

Second Sunday of Advent

          It can be very easy for a person to fall into a deep sense of guilt over a wide variety of things.  Maybe a person feels guilty for what they said or did to another person, like insulting another person or speaking about them behind their back.  Perhaps it is guilt for what they did not do for that person, like not saying “Thank you” for a kind deed or for not giving someone help or a kind word when you know they needed it.  In some instances, guilt is simply our conscience letting us know that we have done something wrong and we need to rectify the situation.  Guilt can also be harmful to us if we don't deal with it in the right way, however.  People have gone crazy because they didn't deal with their guilt in a healthy way.  Some hold on to guilt long after they were forgiven of what they feel guilty about and some feel guilty for things that were not as bad as their imaginations make them out to be. 

          There is a type of guilt that is common among Catholics that is often referred to simply as “Catholic guilt”.  Catholic guilt is simply the guilt that a Catholic feels when he or she is not doing all that they think they should be doing as a Catholic.  Catholic guilt can be helpful in some situations.  It can help remind us of our need to pray, go to reconciliation and give to the poor and various charities.  It can even help us to get ourselves off our duffs on a Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning and get to Church at a descent time.  Catholic guilt can also be hard on a person however.  In fact, I think it is very easy for us Catholics to be a little too hard on ourselves.  Maybe we miss Mass because of bad weather.  Bad weather is a valid reason for missing Mass, but I'm sure there would still be people who say to themselves, “Yeah, but if I would have just driven very slowly on the black ice, I might have still made it.”  Yes, but the Church also wants you to stay alive!  There is no need to beat ourselves up over something like that.  We can go to reconciliation if we feel we must, but know that God wants us to pray to Him on Sundays.  He doesn't want us to risk our lives, or the lives of others, just to get to the Church.  The same can be said about missing Mass because of illness. 

          I brought up all this about guilt and about whether guilt is helpful or justified in certain situations, because we want to be careful not to let guilt get the best of us.  If we let it get the best of us, then we become afraid of having anything to do with God.  We hold back and end up having nothing to do with faith or religion at all.  In reality, we should be running back to Church, back to God, so that we can talk with Him and see the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist so that any wounds can be healed.  It is through the Church that we can hope to improve our relationship with God and grow in holiness.

          Today's Gospel reading talks about repentance and having reconciliation with God.  But I hope that we can see in all the readings, however, that this is not meant to make us feel guilt ridden, but rather as encouragement for us to have a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God.  In the Gospel, St. John the Baptist, who is considered the forerunner of the Jesus, the one who is to prepare for His coming, is preaching about repentance.  “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”.  It is true that we need repentance, but there is a danger if all we think about is how we have to repent.  It is easy to start thinking that there is something wrong with us.  We begin thinking that God isn't going to love us any more because we are so sinful.  That, of course is not the message that St. John the Baptist or Jesus wanted to give.  As the rest of the readings show, the message is really one of encouragement: encouraging us all to strengthen our relationship with God through prayer and seeking reconciliation with God.

          The first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is about how God will judge the nations through this mysterious person who is described as this “shoot from the stump of Jesse”.  “Stump of Jesse” is a reference to the House of David.  A shoot means that this person is going to be a descendent of King David.  Isaiah is talking about the coming of the Messiah, which we Christians recognize as Jesus Christ.  The prophecy continues that this Messiah will judge the peoples in a peaceful way.  He will not judge by hearsay or by appearance, but with justice.  So peaceful and just will this be that the whole world will be at peace.  Even animals that are typically in a predator versus prey relationship (like wolf and a lamb or lion and a calf) will live together in peace.  This is God's goal that the world will be at peace and in union with God.

          The second reading continues that same idea.  “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus.”  God isn't interested in holding our sins over our heads.  He wants us to move past our sins and strengthen our relationship with Him.  I'm not saying that God doesn't care that we have sinned.  He does care.  Our sins hurt our relationship with Him.  What I am saying is that God isn't trying to take us on a guilt trip when He tells us to repent or talks about the sins of this world.  Seek prayer and reconciliation and our relationship with God will grow.

          As we continue in this season of Advent, let us make it our goal to strengthen our relationship with God.  That means prayer.  That means getting to the Church for Mass.  That means getting into the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  It will all mean a closer understanding of Jesus, and a joyful celebration of Christmas.