BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND FIRE
Blessed 2nd Sunday of Advent. How has your Advent preparation been so far? Have you been trying to draw close to Christ & are eagerly awaiting His coming anew into your heart at Christmas? Or has it been a whirlwind of meeting year-end work deadlines, shopping, holidaying, partying & eating (& maybe boozing too)?
This Sunday’s Eucharist invites us to come back to the heart of the matter – in a word – REPENT! Turn your life around! Return to the Lord! This is the clarion call of Advent, as preached by John the Baptist in the desert from today’s Gospel from Matthew 3:1-12. John tells things as it really is – no sugar-coating for him. He warns of retribution, punishment, being disavowed, cut down & thrown on the fire if we don’t repent, get our act together, focus on the most important thing & produce the ‘appropriate fruit’ in our lives. What John then declares is of critical importance to us all – he says Jesus will baptize us with the Holy Spirit & fire (cf Matthew 3:11)!
Quick! What comes to your mind when you hear the words ‘Holy Spirit’ & ‘Fire’? It’s PENTECOST! Go read the glorious account of Pentecost in Acts Chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit came in power like a rushing wind & tongues of fire upon the apostles & disciples in the Upper Room. This is the New Life & Transformation we can all experience anew, starting again this Advent. And it begins with Repentance & Continuing Conversion & Believing in Jesus as Lord!
We hear more about the Holy Spirit when we delve into our 1st Reading from Isaiah 11:1-10. The reading shows us that Jesus, the root of Jesse (father of King David) has the fullness of the Spirit of God resting on Him – the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit of Wisdom & Understanding, Counsel & Might, Knowledge, Piety & the Fear of the Lord (cf Isaiah 11:2-3). Jesus, clothed in integrity & faithfulness is the Anointed One, the Messiah who comes to bring God’s justice & peace to the world – where enemies live peacefully together, where there is no hurt nor harm on God’s holy mountain (cf Isaiah 11:6-9).
What about Fire? Prophet Malachi (the last prophet of the Old Testament some 400 plus years before John the Baptist appeared in the New Testament) declared this: “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ alkali; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.” (Malachi 3:1,3)
The refiner will heat the gold of silver & use the intense heat of the fire to refine it of all impurities – until he can see his own image reflected in the gold or silver. Likewise, the baptism with fire shows that we are cleansed of our sins (impurities) & made pure & perfect by the grace of baptism & reflect God’s goodness & holiness.
What are our readings this weekend inviting us to become & do? I think that by our baptism, we are challenged to become like Jesus & to be holy. We have received the Holy Spirit & His 7 gifts equip us to strive for holiness. We are called to be persons of integrity & faithfulness, love, justice & peace. Here’s what Prophet Micah has to say about what we should do: “… to act justly, to love tenderly, & to walk humbly with your God” (cf Micah 6:8),
We are also challenged to honest & genuine repentance & conversion, & not fool ourselves that we are doing ok, for as St Paul rightly says: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And we are invited to reach out with love to our family & friends & share with them the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ.
The days of the Lord, as sung in our Response to today’s Psalm (Psalm 72:7) “In His days justice shall flourish and peace till the moon fails” are upon us now. Let us then walk closely with Jesus this Advent & live in His justice & peace. Amen. Alleluia.
We end this short reflection with this beautiful hymn “Christ Circle Round Us”.
https://youtu.be/QG1KFOFQMzM?si=ldMmm6dqNmQVluXj
Article by Damian Boon, HFC Blog Team Lead