Repent

 Mt 3: 1-12

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ² “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ³ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
    make his paths straight.’”

⁴ Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

John the Baptist's message is as stark as he appearance, and one can imagine a powerful voice to go with it.  He clearly delineates repentance: a change of life style in order to receive "the one who is coming after", with the vivid image of the separation of the wheat from the chaff.  No half measures, all or nothing.  

What "threshing" have we been able to do during our first week of Advent?  Three more weeks to go:  Is confession on our list? Cleaning our closets? Cleaning our hearts to grudges and hurts?  Giving more time to prayer and to our families or to the needy?  We don't have to look far to put John's message into practice.  Let's make this truly an Advent Sunday, an Advent Season of eager cleansing of our hearts for Christmas.

Bro. Rene

Lord, life is full of peaks and valleys. As we continue this Advent journey, fill our depths with love for you, lower the mountains of self-doubt, unwind the tension stemming from unrealistic expectations, and smooth our inner dialogue to decrease its abrasiveness. Open us, Lord, to the healing of your forgiveness so we can prepare for your coming, for you live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

 Rev. Eric J. Schimmel, C.S.C.