Second Sunday in Advent-B

SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT 

Good evening/morning everyone, I am so happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass. 

Last week, I got a call from a telemarketer from India and I asked his name and he said, “I am Paul Anderson”. Wow...That is awesome and how is Pamela doing? Who is Pamela? Pamela Anderson. And he said, “That is not funny”. My friend I know you name, “You are Raj”. Why do you say that? Because in North America, every second person is called ‘Bob’ and in India, every third person is called ‘Raj’. My last name is ‘Selvaraj’. He then said, “since you know my name, we will ban your number from our telemarketing community”. 

Once a doctor looked at his patient and said, “I have good news and bad news, and which one do you want to hear first?” 

The patient said, “What is the good news?” 

The good news is that the tests show that you still have twenty-four hours to live” 

Then what is the bad news? 

I forget to tell you yesterday.  

Once a gallery owner looked at a painter and said, “I have good news and bad news for you?’ The good news is a man came in and asked whether the price of your paintings would go up after you die and I said, “Yes, of course” and he bought every one of your paintings. That’s awesome and what is the bad news. The man was your doctor. 

Friends in Christ Jesus, Today the Holy Catholic Church celebrates the Second Sunday in Advent. This Sunday is in a special way, called John the Baptist Sunday. John the Baptist came with one message namely, “The Lord is coming, let us prepare the way”. 

Today the highest demand is that you are called to become John the Baptist and welcome people back to the fold, the Good Shepherd is asking us to bring back His sheep to the fold.  

John the Baptist came with three important messages namely 1. Calling the people back to the kingdom of God 2. Healing or giving life those who are dead in sin and finally 3. Living out the Message of the Lord. 

1. Calling the people back to the kingdom of God: Once a man was intensely searching something under the bright light of a hdropole. His neighbor who noticed that went over and asked what he was doing. The man said, “I lost my house key”. So, the man also joined him and thus the both began to search for the key. After an hour of searching, upon not finding the key, the exhausted neighbor said, “By the way, where did you lose that key?” the man said, “I lost it at home”. The neighbor got mad and said, “Then, then why are you looking for the key here?” You know what the man said? He simply said, “It’s because it is brighter here”.  The spiritual masters say, “Look for God where you have lost Him” Some might have lost Him in their marriages because they might have forgotten to renew their marriage vows of in good time and in bad and in sickness and in health, I will honor you and love you” Some might have lost Him in the way they treat their children and others might have lost him in their business and so on. And that why once Christ our Lord said, ‘If you remember that you have done anything, anything at all against your brother or sister, leave your offering before the Altar, first go and reconcile with that brother or sister and then come and offer your gifts at the Altar. John the Baptist went all the region around the Jordan and proclaimed a baptism of repentance. Yes, if we find God where we lost Him, then we become John the Baptist to others. 

2. Healing or giving life those who are dead in Sin:  I liked this non-Catholic moral story about two monks going to a village to preach the Scripture. As they were going to the village, they had to cross a river and at the river bank, there was a woman standing afraid to cross the river. So, one of the monks helped her, carrying her on his shoulders. Then, the other monk went to the monastery and told them all what happened. Everybody began to criticize the monk saying, “you should not have carried a woman on your shoulders and so on...” so, the monk looked at the other one and said, ‘I let her go a long, long time ago and why are you still carrying her in your heart?” The powerful voice of John the Baptist invited people to leave behind their older ways and hold on what is new. Every time we help our own sister or brother or anyone to face their challenges, there we become John the Baptist for them. 

3. Living out the Message: There is a beautiful story about a man who never went to Church, but his neighbor always went to church. So, Sundays this man went fishing but never forgot to invite his neighbor, but the neighbor used to say, “Oh I am going to church on Sundays”. One day this man looked at his neighbor and said, “how come every time I go fishing, I invite you, but you never ever invited me to go to Church?”  Living out the message means help others to know the love and kindness of God father and living out the message means helping others to know the sacrifice and victory of Christ for humanity and living out the message means expending ourselves to those in need. 

Dear friends in Christ, when we help others to experience the Lord, then we become John the Baptist. So, let us become John the Baptist and prepare the way of the Lord inviting others to the kingdom of God. Amen.