Second Sunday of Advent - Immaculate Conception Parish

FATHER NAM’S HOMILY
2 nd SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Advent Season is a time of waiting, of expectation, of silence. Waiting for
our Lord; Jesus Christ is coming soon. Jesus will come, not only on
Christmas Day, He visits us everyday of our life.
In silence we prepare our souls for the coming of Christ. One way to
prepare for the coming of Christ in this Advent season is “repentance”.
In today’s gospel Luke tells us that, “John went throughout the whole
region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the Book of Isaiah, the prophet; “A
voice of one crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight His paths.
Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made straight, and the rough
ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
When Jesus begins His public ministry, what is His first word of instruction to the people? It is
the word repentance. All through his ministry he continues this. The parable of the prodigal
Son, for example, revolves around the repentance of the younger brother and the refusal to repent
of the older brother. God’s grace is available to both of them, but the repentance makes the
difference. In that way we find the deep meaning of the story.
All of the prophets are inviting us to turn away from our normal way of preparing to welcome
Jesus. John the Baptist cries out to us even today to prepare the way of the Lord, make a path
straight for Him, if we want to see the salvation of our Lord. To decorate our home, to buy gifts
for Christmas is good, but let us also prepare our heart to welcome Christ. If we are not ready to
prepare our heart to welcome Christ, then we have lost what is essential.
The Lord helps us to prepare the way for Jesus, make straight His paths. Living in Chicago, all of
us have experience with winter and snow. When snow falls, we cannot see the road. If we don’t
clean the road, it is very hard to drive and easy to have an accident. The road is very important, it
takes us to our destination safely. Much more important is our spiritual road. If we don’t prepare
it well, make the road straight, we cannot go to God.
At the beginning of Advent we can make this beginning step with examination of our souls. We
examine our lack of charity, criticism of superiors, of our neighbors, and of our brothers and
sisters. We repent about our impatience, lack of self-control and mortification toward self, and of
love toward others. We prepare a way of mercy, a way of faithfulness, a way of justice, and a way
of peace.
In silence we examine our souls; we repent our sins. We prepare ourselves. We don’t blame
others, but we pray to God, “Lord, have mercy on me, we are sinners.” Amen.
-Father Joseph Nam Dao
Immaculate Conception Parish 4 Highland Park, Illinois