Second Sunday of Advent
By Fr Oluwafemi Victor Orilua CSSp
Isaiah 11:1-10, Romans 15:4-9, Matthew 3:1-12
Dear friends in Christ, today we celebrate the second Sunday of advent. As we lit the second candle, the Bethlehem candle, the church reminds us of the need for trust and faith in our spiritual journey as we expect the Saviour, who is coming to save the world. He comes to unite us in love.
The call to repentance becomes the centre point in our preparation to welcome the Divine Saviour who not only meets us in the manger, but also in our hearts. We need a new heart capable of birthing the realities God has promised to bring to fulfilment in our lives.
Isaiah said in the first reading, “On that day: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him.” This is a great message of assurance. A shoot coming from a stump seems unthinkable, but God assures us that it is possible. A stump is the remaining base of a tree after it has been cut down. It suggests something that was once strong and flourishing but has now been reduced, weakened, or cut down. Yet from that stump, God promises a new shoot, meaning new life, hope, and restoration can spring from what looks dead or finished.
The Yoruba has a popular saying, “Teni begi loju, Igi aruwe” People who try to hinder others often create more trouble for themselves, because what is rooted in purpose will rise again. The proverb highlights that life has a way of re-emerging. You cannot permanently stop what God has planted. Growth may be delayed, but it is never denied. We are God’s project which can never be supressed. This is a call for resilience and endurance that frustrate those who wait to see us fall or those who want us to remain as mere stumps.
Hence, this is the time to search into our lives and see if there is any form of loss, decline or a situation that seems hopeless. God is saying that he has a new and fresh beginning for us.
However, Paul admonishes us as people of hope to unite with others in love. We need others to birth God’s promises in our lives. It takes the visit to Elizabeth to have the promised Messiah in Mary to leap. We must form a community of shared hope that transcend tribal or racial boundaries. “For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, ‘Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”
Above all, we need a new heart and mind to actualise God’s promises in our lives. In the Gospel, John the Baptist came to prepare the way for the Christ. He calls us to repentance, because we cannot get stuck to old ways and wait for new things to emerge in us. While we wait and endure, we must build the capacity to contain the promises of God in our lives. We need to desire an ongoing spiritual transformation.
As we journey in hope, may our open hearts and contrite spirit open to us a new vista of God’s divine bounties. Amen.
