Some time ago, I was at dinner with a family. Halfway into the evening, one of the family members pulled out today’s gospel passage and asked me to read it to the hearing of the family. I took it and started reading it religiously. After the first few lines, they all started laughing. I stopped; I was confused and embarrassed. Then one of them asked, “Father, how were you able to pronounce those names in the reading with a straight face? Do they not sound funny to you? Some even sound like names of diseases.” Another family member asked, “Why did the Church choose this passage for this Sunday? Why bother us with those names of people and places? How do those names concern us today? Why not just go straight to the main gist?” It was at that dinner that I began to prepare today’s homily.
Today is the Second Sunday of Advent Year C. In this liturgical year, Year C, on most Sundays, our Gospel reading will be from the Gospel according to Luke. In presenting his account of the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Luke differs from Mark (our evangelist for Year B). In Mark’s account of the Gospel, we have a sudden beginning and brief introduction. In the first 15 verses of Mark, John preaches and baptizes (including Jesus), and John is imprisoned. Also, Jesus is tempted, and Jesus begins his public ministry. In Luke’s case, he takes 134 verses to prepare us for the ministries of John and Jesus. As part of Luke’s long introductory work, in today’s Gospel passage, he tells us about the political and religious leaders that were in power when John went about in the desert to prepare the way for the arrival of Jesus. Luke situated his story chronologically, politically, religiously, and geographically. He did this intentionally to inform us that the story he was about to tell was not just another nice fable, a myth, a legend, or a figment of his imagination. It was rather a concrete and verifiable historical event. Luke wanted to clarify from the beginning that Jesus was an actual human being born into the real world. As God, he existed for all eternity, but as a human being, he was born into a particular cultural milieu at a specific time.
Politically, it was during the reign of the Roman Imperial rulers. Tiberius Caesar was Emperor of the Roman Empire, Pontius Pilate was procurator (technically not governor) of Judea, and Herod was Tetrarch of Galilee (a tetrarchy was one-fourth of a region). He also gave the names of the rulers of neighboring regions. Chronologically, he specified that it was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Religiously, it was during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas.
In his introduction, Luke shows us the concrete world with which Jesus began to interact as soon as he was born. This approach by Luke reveals that God is actively involved in human affairs. He is not just up there, passively watching his creatures. After the fall of humanity, when the time came for a new beginning as announced by the prophets up to John the Baptist, the Word of God became flesh, and was born to be one like us. He came to suffer and die for us. From the beginning of his story, Luke already began to present some of those who would play unique roles in his crucifixion, such as Pontius Pilate, Herod, Annas, and Caiaphas.
John the Baptist began his ministry of preparing the way for the Messiah in the desert. The desert reminds us of something in us, namely, our dependence on God and on one another. The desert is a place of minimal resources; it is a place of lack. We need a lot of help to survive in the desert. But as humans, we tend to fight against our need for God and one another. We want to be self-sufficient. This resentment of our dependence on God and on one another began all the way from the Garden of Eden. Having been placed in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were excited to know that eating the forbidden fruit would give them knowledge of good and evil; as such, they would no longer depend on God to teach them. That desire eventually led to the fall of humanity. Have you ever tried to watch a two-year-old child learning to walk? When you try to offer some help, the little child will usually push away your helping hand, probably saying, “Leave me alone; I can do it by myself.” Today, on this Second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist invites us to the desert to prepare for the arrival of Jesus Christ, who will come at Christmas to help us in our journey through the desert. Yes, the desert is a place of lack, a place of insufficient resources, and a place in need. If we come to God full of ourselves, we become empty of God, but if we come to God empty of ourselves, God fills us up with himself. God did not create anyone to be self-sufficient. We need God, and we need one another. May our trust in God never put us to shame amid the changes and chances of this life until we come to our heavenly inheritance through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Homily for 2nd Sunday of Advent Year C 2024
Nice job Fada!