Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent Year C
Theme: PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD….. “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea…”
By: Fr. Maciej SLYZ Misionero de Fidei Donum
(Bialystok, Poland)
Homily for Sunday December 5 2021
Today, nearly half of the Gospel passage consists of historical-biographical data. Not even in the liturgy of the Mass this historical text has been changed by the frequent ‘at that time’. Such an “insignificant” foreword for the contemporary man has prevailed: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee (…)” (Lk 3:1). Why? To demystify! God came into the history of mankind in a very “precise” way, as He also did in the history of every man. For example, in the life of John – son of Zechariah – “He called him so that he went into all the country around the Jordan preaching…” (cf. Lk 3:3).
Today, God also speaks to me with his Word. He does it personally – as with John the Baptist -, or through his emissaries. My Jordan River may be the Sunday Eucharist, it may be the Pope Francis’ tweet, which reminds us that “the content of Christian witness is not a theory, but rather of a Person: it is the risen Christ, the living and only Savior of all.” God has entered into the history of my life because Christ is not a theory. He is the saving practice, the Charity, the Mercy.
But at the same time, this very God needs our poor effort: that we fill in the valleys of our distrust of his Love; that we make low the mountains and hills of our pride, that prevents us seeing Him and receiving His help; that we unbend and straighten the crooked roads that make the path to our heart become a maze..
Today it is the second Sunday of Advent, and its main objective is that I can meet God in the way of my life. Not just a Newborn infant, but over and above all, the most Merciful Savior, to see the smile of God, “when all the people will see God’s salvation.” (cf. Lk 3:6). So it is! St. Gregory of Nazianzus, said it “nothing pleases God more than the conversion and salvation of man.”
Fr. Maciej SLYZ Misionero de Fidei Donum
(Bialystok, Poland)