Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • December 6, 2024 5 Compassionate Service 228-374-5650 Bradfordokeefe.com Thank you, Jesus, Mary, and St. Jude, for prayers answered. AVN Opening Reflection: Story: I lived in Brooklyn, New York, and was an avid New York Yankees baseball fan. Three weeks before my twelfth birthday, my dad showed me tickets he had for us to go to Yankees Stadium. It was the longest three weeks of my life. The anticipation was torturing me. After two weeks, I was sure that the day would never come. As dad began to prepare me for the event. He would ask, “What are you going to wear?” “Be sure to bring your new baseball glove in case a ball was hit toward you.” -- coming home with a baseball would have been the ultimate accomplishment. I began to fantasize about how many ways it could happen. This made that last week fly by. Overview of The Readings: Today’s readings speak of anticipation, longing, and preparation as we begin this second week of Advent. In our first reading, the prophet Baruch, an assistant of the prophet Jeremiah, is writing to encourage the Jewish people held in captivity that their freedomwould soon come. Our Psalm response, “The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy,” remembers the longing of the captives of Zion, which the Lord restored to His favor. Paul, writing to the Philippians, speaks of a good work God has begun that will someday see its completion to glory. Today’s Gospel identifies a particular time in history (fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar) when John the Baptist would announce the imminent coming of the long-promised Messiah. God’s Ways: Israel’s captivity in the pagan nation of Babylon lasted more than seventy years. It came because of their infidelity of worshipping pagan gods, not caring for their own needy, and aligning with pagan leaders instead of relying on the Lord. Despite all that, the Lord continued to love them and sent prophets who spoke of God’s love, fidelity, and a way for them to return to their creator. Baruch encourages them to be ready to accept God’s ways by aligning themselves with God’s justice, glory, and the power of His name. “Rise up Jerusalem. It may look gloomy now, but God is leading you to rejoice in the light of His glory. Spanish philosopher George Santayana wrote, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” We have the sacred Scriptures, Church teaching, Apostolic Tradition, and the lives of the Saints to strengthen our relationship with the Lord. Great Things: Our Psalm encourages the attitude that as we recognize God has done great things for past generations, He will surely do great things for us. “Restore our fortunes, Lord, like the torrents in the southern desert.” When we experience ‘desert’ times (not ‘feeling’ God’s peace, joy, and love or feeling abandoned by God, our default mode is to neglect prayer, reception of the sacraments, or resist ministering to the needs of others. Blinded to God’s signs and deaf to His call, we can shrink in faith rather than grow in the love of the Lord. Your Cooperation: St. Paul, in today’s letter to the Philippians, encourages the believers to stay the course and rely on God’s faithful promises. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) repeated this teaching, “Just as God began the good work, He will bring it to completion if we cooperate.” St. Francis de Sales tells us, “We shall come to realize how much we ought to trust in God. Our Lord is ever watchful of the actions of His children: He gets them to walk ahead of Him and gives them a helping hand if they meet up with difficulty.” Advent’s song continues to be, “O come, O come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel -- calling each of us to believe, pray for, and cooperate with the many ways God wants to bless us. Miraculous Evidence: Today’s Gospel assures us that God has a plan for our lives, which includes the promised Messiah’s arrival and continuous care. So that this promise cannot be refuted, Luke offers historical evidencewith names, dates, and places of secular rulers, religious leaders, and an elderly priest named Zechariah whose barren wife, Elizabeth, miraculously conceives and bears a son in her old age. John the Baptist’s message, a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, begins with, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” It immediately calls for the hearer’s cooperation. The message continues with some extraordinary promises that only God can keep -- for those who do comply: “Valleys will be filled (humility will be counted as righteousness), mountains will be made low (the arrogant, self-righteous, prideful, will be humbled), rough ways made smooth, (those who suffer for the sake of righteousness will be consoled), and all now have the ability to see (and believe) the salvation of God in flesh, word, and deed. Can there be a more timely word for us today?We need to be liberated from the secular traps and false promises of wanting and demanding wealth, power, honor, and pleasure and making these our gods. Jesus liberates our captivity as we embrace Him and His will wholeheartedly. This Advent reject straddling the fence or dabbling in a little bit of faith when it is convenient and mixing it with a mostly self-centered appetite that never gets satisfied. Instead, turn your heart and mind toward God. Closing Comments and Questions: John the Baptist was effective as a preacher because he told people what in their hearts they knew (that they were broken and flawed) and brought them what they needed (the fulfillment of a relationship with the long-promised Messiah: to heal, love, and forgive). Allow Jesus to speak to your heart and fulfill His promises in and through you. Deacon Ralph Torrelli lives in Hattiesburg and is assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas Parish. Visit his website: www.homilypearls.com. 1st Reading: Baruch 5:1-9 Responsorial Psalm: 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6 2nd Reading: Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11 Gospel: Luke 3:1-6 2nd Sunday of Advent Promises fulfilled Deacon Torrell i Sunday Scripture Commentaries