2^nd Sunday of Advent 2008 - IN TODAYS GOSPEL JOHN THE BAPTIST HAD BEEN SENT BY GOD TO DIRECTLY PREPARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD TO RECEIVE HIS WORD, AND HIS WORD IS JESUS, THE SON OF GOD IN PERSON. THIS IS WHY HE SPEAKS, HE PREACHES, HE PROCLAIMS TO MANKIND THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH: THE HUMAN WORD OF JOHN THE BAPTIST SERVES AS A PREPARATION FOR THE DIVINE WORD OF JESUS. BUT JOHN THE BAPTISTS HUMAN WORDS ALONE DO NOT SUFFICE TO SUITABLY PREPARE MANKIND TO RECEIVE THE WORD OF GOD. THAT WHICH IS HUMAN IS, AND SHALL ALWAYS REMAIN, INFERIOR TO WHAT IS DIVINE.

IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE VERY WORD OF GOD, ONE THEREFORE REQUIRES A PREPARATION FOR WHICH IS NOT SIMPLY HUMAN, BUT ALSO DIVINE. WE CAN RECEIVE THIS DIVINE PREPARARTION ……     THRU THE POSSESSION OF THE GRACE OF GOD. BUT TO RECEIVE THIS GRACE….. WE MUST PURIFY ONESELF OF ALL OUR PERSONAL SIN’S, THOSE FOR WHICH WE ARE PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE. SO JOHN PREACHED REPENTANCE THRU BAPTISM:……. IN ORDER FOR THE GRACE OF GOD TO FILL HEARTS,…….. IT WAS NECESSARY FOR SIN TO BE EXCLUDED FROM THEM….. JOHN THE BAPTIST PROCLAIMED THE BAPTISM THAT JESUS WOULD PROVIDE: THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. FOR IT IS TRULY THIS SPIRIT OF LOVE WHICH PURIFIES THE SOUL THROUGH THE REMISSION OF SINS: THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE FIRE OF LOVE WHICH PURIFIES AND TRANSFORMS US. IN THE HOLY TRINITY, EVERYTHING IS ACCOMPLISHED IN THE LOVE OF GOD, WHICH IS THE HOLY SPIRIT. …………SIMILARLY, WHEN GOD COMMUNICATES TO US HIS DIVINE WORD, THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO IS LOVE.

I WANT TO SHARE A STORY WITH YOU ABOUT MONKEYS. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO CATCH ONE? WELL YOU SLICE A COCONUT IN TWO, HOLLOW IT OUT, AND IN ONE HALF OF THE SHELL CUT A HOLE JUST BIG ENOUGH FOR A MONKEYS HAND TO PASS THROUGH. THEN YOU PLACE AN ORANGE IN THE OTHER HALF OF THE COCONUT BEFORE FASTENING TOGETHER THE TWO HALVES OF THE COCONUT SHELL. FINALLY, YOU SECURE THE COCONUT TO A TREE WITH A ROPE, THEN YOU HIDE AND WAIT. SOONER OR LATER AN UNSUSPECTING MONKEY SWINGS BY, SMELLS THE DELICIOUS ORANGE, AND DISCOVERS ITS LOCATION INSIDE THE COCONUT. THE MONKEY THEN SLIPS HIS HAND THRU THE SMALL HOLE, GRASPS THE ORANGE, AND TRIES TO PULL IT THRU THE HOLE. OF COURSE, THE ORANGE WON’T COME OUT; IT’S TOO BIG FOR THE HOLE. TO NO AVAIL THE PERSISTENT MONKEY CONTINUES TO PULL AND PULL, NEVER REALIZING THE DANGER IT IS IN.

WHILE THE MONKEY STRUGGLES WITH THE ORANGE, YOU SIMPLY STROLL IN AND THROW A NET OVER HIM. AS LONG AS THE MONKEY KEEPS HIS FIST WRAPPED AROUND THE ORANGE, THE MONKEY IS TRAPPED. THE SAD THING IS THE POOR MONKEY COULD SAVE HIS OWN LIFE IF IT WOULD SIMPLY LET GO OF THE ORANGE. IT RARELY OCCURS TO A MONKEY, HOWEVER, THAT IT CAN’T HAVE BOTH THE ORANGE AND ITS FREEDOM. THAT DELICIOUS ORANGE BECOMES A DEADLY TRAP. THIS IS HOW THEY CATCH MONKEYS IN AFRICA.

ISN’T THAT HOW THE DEVIL WORKS, WE WALK THRU LIFE AND THE DEVIL SENSES THAT WE ARE COMING CLOSER TO GOD, SO HE DANGLES SOMETHING IN OUR FACE, AN ODOR, AND INSPIRES US TO PURSUE SINFUL THINGS OR WAYS, AND IN OUR HUMAN WEAKNESS, WE FIND THESE DISTRACTIONS PLEASANT AND WE REFUSE, LIKE THE MONKEY TO LET GO OF THEM. BUT WE ARE WISER THAN A MONKEY; WE HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT ALWAYS STIRRING IN OUR HEARTS AND MINDS.

DURING THIS TIME OF ADVENT, LET US THEREFORE PREPARE OUR HEART TO RECEIVE THE WORD OF GOD, LET US ASK GOD TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS, LET US PRAY TO THE LORD AND ASK HIM TO SEND US HIS SPIRIT, IN ORDER THAT OUR SOUL MIGHT BE PURE, UNSTAINED BY ANY SIN, AND SO THAT THE WORD OF GOD MIGHT THUS COME TO US AND THE ENTIRE WORLD. ADVENT IS A TIME FOR REPENTANCE AND PURIFICATION IN SEEKING THE COMING OF THE LORD. AMEN