December 8/Second Sunday of Advent
[John the Baptist said to the Pharisees and Sadducees,] “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’” ~ Matt 3.8-9
Complacency is an occupational hazard of participating in a two-thousand year old belief system. If we are fortunate to have been raised in a specific faith tradition, we have grown up with certain rites, rituals, and religious expectations, and sometimes we may be simply go through the motions. We attend church on Sundays. We accurately recite the formulas and prayers of the liturgy. We correctly perform the external actions of worship — kneeling, standing, making the sign of the Cross, opening the hymnal (except for Catholics, of course, because “everyone” knows Catholics don’t sing!). But what is going on underneath the pious veneer? Are we genuinely seeking God’s mercy as we intone the Kyrie Eleison? Do we actually give grateful thanks as we sing the Gloria? Do we truly count ourselves blessed by the extraordinary gift that Christ gives of himself in the Eucharist? Are we really going forth glorifying the Lord at the end of the liturgy? Or are we merely riding on the coattails of tradition, like the Pharisees whom John excoriates in today’s Gospel reading? John has no patience for those who rely on their religious heritage as evidence of their virtue. He demands nothing less than total and energetic conversion of heart. The repentance John calls for is a reshaping of the inner self, what the Greeks referred to as metanoia. In this process, prayer is an essential chiseling tool, helping us chip and carve off whatever accreted habits and attitudes block our path to God. As we deepen our relationship with God and gradually align our will with his, then we will begin to produce good fruit.
O God, Give me the tools of prayer and reflection that I need as I reshape the contours of my inner self during this season of preparation. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120819.cfm
