(See the readings for the Second Sunday of Advent)
Advent is the season of hope. It provides the Christian community a period of time to bolster our hope and to be strengthened by this virtue for our continued journey through life. The four Sundays of Advent provide us an opportunity to reflect on several aspects of our faith that help bolster our hope: vigilance, repentance, transformation and reliance. Last week the focus was vigilance. Today we consider repentance.
Have you ever gotten dirty? Perhaps it was a job in the yard, taking down a tree or digging out a garden area. You work for hours out in the sun and dirt. You’re covered with grime. You’re tired from all the work. You go into the house and head right for the shower. After a few minutes of getting clean, having the cool water wash all the dirt away makes you feel new. You’re energized and ready for the next project.
Or how about if you’re exercising or playing a sport? You expend a lot of energy and are covered with sweat and you feel exhausted. Once again you head for the shower and have a similar reaction. Many people have a similar experience from just getting a shower in the morning after a full night’s sleep. Getting cleaned up gives a renewed outlook on what lies ahead whether another project, another game or another day.
Perhaps that’s one way of looking at repentance; but in this case it’s not the body that gets cleaned but the soul. When the body gets cleaned up, we get a new outlook on the day. When the soul gets cleaned up, we get a new lease on hope.
Perhaps another similar analogy might work here. If you wear glasses and they get smudged, even with something as simple as fingerprints, it makes a world of difference to clean the lenses. A similar effect happens with repentance: we can see clearer when we have a clean conscience, and that allows hope to be more visible in our lives.
We certainly think of Lent as a time of repentance but Advent has this element as well. The Gospel account for the liturgy of the Second Sunday of Advent recalls the ministry of John the Baptist. His ministry was one of preparation for the coming Messiah. John speaks of his own role in these terms.
“I am baptizing you with water but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I,” he says. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” That preparation involves repentance. John cries out: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
John’s references to baptism, the Holy Spirit and fire are all related to repentance. Baptism is a cleansing by water and fire is a purifying element. The Holy Spirit is poured out on a vessel ready to welcome it, the preparation for which is repentance. The abiding presence of the Spirit, which Jesus will offer, helps us from within to lead a life of repentance and conversion of heart.
The original advent of Christ was transformative for all creation. Isaiah prepares for the coming Messiah when he announces that “a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” The Messiah will usher in justice by reconciling all humanity with God.
The transformation will be so great that “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 neighbors, 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.”
We now live in the time of Christ’s presence, for He has come. The baptism that John foretold has taken place and the transformation that has taken place in us through our baptism never goes away.
During these first weeks of Advent we call to mind that Christ will come again and so preparation is needed so we are ready for His arrival. We all readily realize that even though we have been baptized, we still sin. The effect of sin is that it disrupts, distorts, hinders and sometimes blinds us. Repentance opens the door for Christ’s healing power to restore, strengthen and clarify so that we can see more clearly the Way to life.
St. Paul speaks of the hope we have in Christ Jesus. He offers a prayer and blessing: “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Repentance and the forgiveness of sin that follows is one of the vehicles through which we receive the gifts of endurance and encouragement so that our worship and witness may be pure, brilliant and bright.
The time is now for repentance and forgiveness. Parishes throughout the area will be hosting, in addition to regular opportunities, special gatherings for the sacrament of penance and reconciliation. We prepare for the sacrament through a good examination of conscience. Here are a few examples available to help us:
- https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/sacraments-and-sacramentals/penance/examinations-of-conscience
- https://angelicum.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Exam-of-Conscience-ANGELICUM.pdf
- https://fathersofmercy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/2020Examination.pdf
- https://bismarckdiocese.com/documents/Adult%20Faith%20Formatio/Examin-Adults_SevenDeadly.pdf
The preparation helps us to identify our particular sins and helps to stir our hearts to contrition. Expressing these sins through sacramental confession allows us in concrete form to receive the grace of reconciliation and the outpouring of mercy.
Advent is the season of hope. Life in the world today is challenging. There are many areas of life in our world, country, communities and families where hope is needed. During this season, we have the opportunity to bolster our hope. Repentance is one of the means by which this happens. We have the opportunity, today, to hear those words of the Baptist and to prepare for the Lord’s advent: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
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Msgr. Joseph Prior is pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish, Penndel, and a former professor of Sacred Scripture and rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. Read more reflections by Msgr. Joseph Prior here.
The post Like Lent, Advent Features Cleansing Repentance Before Joyous Event appeared first on CatholicPhilly.
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