Fr. Ernald Andal, SJ
Second Sunday of Advent
December 4, 2016
“You brood of vipers!” One might have easily mistaken John the Baptist’s harsh words addressed to the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to his baptism as that of our President’s! His words were straightforward and vicious.
It’s not difficult then to picture John as someone stern and even tactless. He’s definitely not someone who’d advocate political correctness over moral uprightness.
Like his cousin, he was born for a mission; for one expressed purpose on earth: He was to announce and prepare for the coming of the Lord—the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire…the One who has a winnowing fan in his hand, and who would gather His wheat into his barn but burn the chaff with unquenchable fire!
John was dead-set on his mission. To him, it wasn’t a laughing matter. It was a serious matter of (eternal) life or (eternal) death. And so it is in this context that we get to understand his words (and his ferocity!) a bit better.
With his strong, stinging words, he wanted to shock into reality those who still refused to see the urgency of the need to reform their lives. He shook them down to their very core in order to awaken them to the damnation that awaits them if they refuse to seek repentance and amend their sinful ways.
In a real sense, John was showing them sincere love—tough love that is. He would not want anyone to miss the point. And so emphatically, he preached the point: “The Lord is coming—and so you ought to shape up, and shape up you must, now!” But he did not simply utter words; he lived them out in his own life. That made his message truly impactful!
It is a message, however, that very few would like to hear being preached straight to their faces. Admittedly, though, for us who have grown too accustomed with our sinful ways; for us who have been quite unmindful of how we have failed to love God because of our failure to love one another—this, in-your-face-admonition is precisely what we need today.
We may have remained too complacent at times; overly familiar with the Lord, even. We often hear the Good News proclaimed, but fail to heed its radical call in our lives. We may think that it’s not our work; it’s not our vocation and simply shrug our shoulders and move on with our easy lives.
How many of us, for instance would rather remain quiet amidst the clamor for social justice just because we would not want to be hassled and bothered by the cumbersome task of nation building? How many of us would rather stay on the sidelines and simply wish people well when deep inside, we know that we can actually contribute to the betterment of others if only we make certain sacrifices in our lives?
If John the Baptist were to preach to us today, he would have probably repeated the same challenge he posed to the Pharisees and Sadducees: “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance!”
Hope is not lost for us. It’s not yet too late. God graces us with this chance especially during this Advent Season to hear John’s wake-up call echo and resonate in our hearts. Let us awaken now to his call and not dilly-dally; for the Lord is indeed coming and we must prepare ourselves well to receive Him.