Isaiah 11:1-10 / Romans 15:4-9 / Mathew 3:1-12
Sometimes it is difficult to say when does Christmas begin.
Sometimes it is difficult to say when does Christmas begin.
Yes, today is the 2nd Sunday of Advent, which means that we begin the 2nd week of Advent.
And that means to say that Christmas is about three weeks away.
But while the Church is waiting for another three more weeks for Christmas, it seems that for the rest of the world, Christmas celebrations have already begun.
So while in Church we sing “O come O come Emmanuel”, the world is already singing “Jingle Bells” and Santa Claus is already in town.
Just open the newspapers and it’s page after page of Christmas sales and special offers.
Come to think of it, I have never come across an Advent sale or Advent special offer.
So in the papers, over the radio, and on tv commercials, Christmas is in the air, and it began as early as November.
The world is telling us to make this Christmas special, and the media is spewing out special offers.
So there will be offers on special food to hold that special Christmas party.
And since we might be going for Christmas parties, then we might want to take up that special offer to buy that special car.
And not forgetting that special set of clothes to “wow” our friends at the parties.
And to fit into that special set of clothes, we might want to consider that offer to have a special figure for Christmas.
Unless we are going to play Santa Claus at the parties.
And then of course, the face. There are many special offers to give us that special look for Christmas.
We can even have a nose job to look like Rudolf!
Yes, the world is telling us to have a special Christmas with their special offers.
And we won’t deny it. We also want to have a special Christmas.
Well, on this 2nd Sunday of Advent, the Church brings in a special guest.
Yes, indeed a special guest, with special clothes for the occasion as well as a special diet to go along with it.
It’s none other than John the Baptist.
And John the Baptist is going to tell us how to have a special Christmas.
Ok, be ready for this. It’s just a special word. And that is : Repent! Yes, repent! Sounds like some hangover talk right
Oh come on, we want to hear words like “party” “celebrate” “it’s the season to be jolly”.
But no! Three weeks before Christmas, John the Baptist comes with a special message and it’s “Repent!”
Yes, repent! And it comes along with an axe!
John the Baptist is telling us that if we want to have a special Christmas, then we have to do some cutting and chopping.
Yes, we will have to cut away and chop off everything that is blocking the way of the Lord into our hearts.
So what is it that we need to cut? What is it that we need to chop off?
Maybe among other things we may need to cut away this idea of having a special Christmas.
The month of December is an anxious and stressful month.
Besides the stress of closing accounts and year-end reports, there is also the anxiety of preparing for Christmas and to make it special.
So there are Christmas decorations to put up, but we have to find them first, and then the lights may not work.
And I think that people may not request for a house blessing during this period of time.
Just imagine – you ask the priest to come and bless your house.
And the house is in a mess with Xmas decorations half done and you have to prepare a Xmas present for the priest even.
So better wait till after Christmas for house blessing.
Well, besides Christmas decorations, there is also the anxiety of getting special presents for the people who are special in our lives.
Because we also want them to have a special Christmas right
Well all this adds to the festive mood. But all this does not make Christmas special. In fact they are just ornamental.
We need to cut away the idea of an ornamental Christmas, and what we need to do is to make this Advent special.
We do that by preparing the way for the Lord, and we make a special place for Him this Advent.
We make a special place for the Lord, first and foremost, in our homes.
Earlier on I was talking about house blessing. Some time back I went to bless a house.
As I finished the prayers and was about to sprinkle the house with holy water, the little boy asked me : Father, why must use holy water to bless the house?
So I looked at the parents and asked : Do you know why?
They gave me that “google” look (searching … ) and in case they come up with something like … holy water will drive away the devil and those funny spirits, I quickly said :
Well, I use holy water to bless the house to remind us of our baptism and that our home is the first place to live out our baptismal promises.
So the home is a special place. Because God wants to be in our homes.
And hence we have to make our homes a special place for the Lord, we have to make our homes a special place for prayer.
Advent is the time to make a special place for the Lord at home.
Even if we don’t have an Advent wreath at home, we can dedicate a place and have the four Advent candles there, and light it and have our family prayer.
Already the two lighted candles tell us that we must hurry in making this Advent special.
We must hurry in making a special place for the Lord in our homes.
We must hurry in making a special time for the Lord in prayer, especially family prayer which is so lacking in families, and yet it is so important.
Let us make this Advent special, and only in doing so Christmas will be special.
Let us remember that Advent is a time for prayer, especially family prayer.
Yes, prayer is special. The rest are just ornamental.