The Second Warning of Advent:
Christ is nigh! Let us rise from the Sleep of Sin, and do Penance.
Rom. xiii. 11: "Know that it is now the hour to rise from sleep." Luke iii 4: "A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight His paths."
EPISTLE (Rom. 15:4‑13). Brethren, what things soever were written, were written for our learning, that through patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope. Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one mind one towards another, according to Jesus Christ: that with one mind, and with one mouth, you may glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive one another, as Christ also hath received you unto the honor of God. For I say that Christ Jesus was minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. But that the Gentiles are to glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: Therefore will I confess to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name. And again he saith: Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. And again: Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and magnify him, all ye people. And again, Isaias saith: There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise up to rule the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, and in the power of the Holy Ghost.
Our beloved Abbot Gueranger says:
'How much is contained in these magnificent words of the prophet (Isaias)! The branch; the flower that is to come from it; the Spirit which rests on this flower; the seven gifts of this Spirit; peace and confidence established on the earth; and, throughout the world, one brotherhood in the kingdom of the Messias! St. Jerome, whose words are read by the Church in the lessons...says that the branch which cometh forth from the root of Jesse, is the blessed Virgin Mary, who had contact with no shrub or plant; and that the flower is the Lord Jesus, who says in the Canticle of canticles: 'I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valley.'
St. Bernard, commenting upon this responsory in his second Advent homily, says: "The Virgin's Son is the flower, a flower white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands; a flower on whom the angels love to look; a flower whose fragrance restores the dead; a flower, as himself assures us, of the field, not of a garden: for the flowers of the field bloom without man's care, no man has sown their seed, no man has cultivated them. Just so the Virgin's womb, a meadow verdant in an endless spring, has brought forth a flower, whose beauty will never droop, whose freshness will never fade. O Virgin, branch sublime, to what a height art thou grown! the Lord of majesty. It was sure to be so, for thou castest deep down the roots of humility. O plant of heaven indeed! alone worthy to bear the fruit of salvation."
GOSPEL (Mt. 11:2‑10). At that time, when John had heard in prison the works of Christ, sending two of his disciples to say to him: "Art thou he that art to come, or do we look for another?" And Jesus making answer, said to them: "Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them: and blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in me." And when they went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, "What went you out into the desert to see? a reed shaken with the wind? But what went you out to see? a man clothed in soft garments? Behold, they that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings. But what went you out to see? a prophet? yea I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my Angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee."
Second Sunday of Advent: The Three-Fold Faith
by Bishop Ehrler, 1891
"When John had heard in prison the works of Christ, sending two of his disciples, he said: Art thou he that art to come, or look we for another?" (Matthew 11:2)
My dearly beloved, why does John send two of his disciples to Christ to ask him: "Art thou he that art to come, or look we for another?" Is his question prompted by a want of knowledge, or does he, perhaps, doubt that Christ is "He that is to be sent, and who is the expectation of nations (Gen. 49 : 10.)?" No, the Baptist did not instruct his disciples to ask this question because he did not know the Messias; for he himself, in the presence of many people, had already pointed him out, saying: "Behold the Lamb of God," "Behold him who taketh away the sins of the world." He, also, had heard with his own ears the testimony of the Eternal Father, when the divine Dove of the Spirit descended on Christ after His Baptism in the Jordan, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." But, as our Saviour once asked where Lazarus was buried, not because he did not know, but in order that those who pointed out the grave, seeing its dead occupant raised to life, might be converted to the true faith--so, St. John sent his followers to Christ that, beholding his wonderful signs and miracles, they might be brought to believe in him. The holy Precursor knew that there is a three-fold faith which, as it were, by steps, leads up the faithful soul to God.
I. The faith inspired by heavenly signs and miracles;
II. The faith begotten of the divine Commandments; and
III. The faith grounded upon the divine promises.
I. Through the faith of miracles, my beloved brethren, we believe in, a God whose almighty power can effect these, and still greater, wonders.
1. "Without faith, it is impossible to please God" (Hebr. 11:6), says the Apostle. He then, who aspires to the divine love and favor, must believe that there is a God, a supreme and all-wise Deity, who will reward the good and punish the wicked. How can we know and believe all this? Through the signs and miracles of the God-Man. "The works themselves which I do, give testimony of Me, that the Father hath sent Me."(John 5:36) These divine works are the ground of our faith, for without them, the Christian's belief would be nothing but credulity. Hence, our Saviour himself says: "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though you will not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." (John 10:37-38) As though He would declare in other words: In performing all these works and miracles, my dear children, my only motive is to furnish you with a secure foundation for your faith.
2. The marvels which a man beholds with his own eyes, are a guarantee for other and greater wonders which he does not see. Reason thus convinces him: If God can effect this one great miracle, he can most assuredly do all things. It is not by words that our Saviour, in the Gospel of today, answers the disciples of John, but by pointing to the works he wrought. To the question: "Art thou he that art to come?" He did not answer "I am He,"but, "Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." If he had merely answered: "I am He", the followers of John might have echoed in thought, at least, if not in word, the frequent reproach of the Scribes and Pharisees: "Thou givest testimony of thyself."(John 8:13) A man's works not only assert what he is, but also prove that their testimony is true. The testimony of Christ's wonderful works, my brethren, is as convincing a proof of His divinity to us now, as it was to the disciples of John. It was on this account, I imagine, that our Saviour commanded those messengers of the Baptist to relate to him what they had heard, as well as what they had seen: "Go, and relate to John what you have heard and seen." Yes! my Lord and my God!--"Faith cometh by hearing," "Thy testimonies are become to me exceedingly credible (Ps. 92 : 5)"; and I believe in Thee just as firmly now, when I only hear and read these things, as I would have believed if present with the Jews of old at the actual working of thy miracles!
II. Faith is begotten of the divine Commandments. To believe in God means:
1. To hope in Him; and
2. To love Him.
1. Faith can as little exist without hope, as a building can stand without a foundation. For why, my brethren, do we believe in God, if not because "we look for that life which God will give to those that never change their faith from Him?" (Tob. 2:18) The Psalmist was inspired from heaven, when he declared: "It is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God." (Ps. 72:27) If we adhere to God, we believe in God. And this faith is justly called the faith of the commandments, since we can neither depend upon Him nor fix our hopes upon Him unless we keep His commandments. Divine faith and hope are thus so closely united together, that they are often expressed by the one simple word--faith--as in that text of the Wise Man, which so beautifully and truthfully exhorts the Christian to "believe God, and He will recover thee," immediately adding: " And direct thy way and trust in Him." (Eccles. 2:6)--that is: Keep all His. commandments, and then thou shalt have an assured right to hope.
2. Divine love, my dear brethren, is as inseparable as hope from true Christian faith. This, our Saviour shows clearly enough, when He rebukes the Jews, saying: "Why call you me Lord, Lord; and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46); implying by these words: "You have, it is true, the faith founded upon miracles, but you have not yet the faith founded upon the observance of the commandments. My works testify to you that I am the Son of God, and that I am invested with divine power; but you do not yet appear to believe that I have the power to command your obedience. You believe in me, but you do not, as yet, love me; otherwise you would do what I command you; "If any one love Me, he will keep My word" (John 14 : 23).
III. Our faith, in order to be efficacious, must be grounded upon the divine promises. We believe in God: 1. Because He has promised us eternal life, and 2. Because He always performs what He promises.
1. God commands us nothing without attaching a great reward to our obedience. Now, what greater reward could He promise than the assurance of eternal life to those that believe in Him? How often, my brethren, has He not repeated to us this promise? "For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.(John 3:16) And further: "Amen, amen, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent me, hath everlasting life; and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death to life" (John 5:24) Again: "He that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live; and every one that liveth, and believeth in Me shall not die forever." (John 11:25-26) Yes, He even goes so far as to say: "This is life everlasting; that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."(John 17:3) If we seriously consider these blessed, life-giving promises, my dearly beloved, shall we not dismiss all our invisible, idle, useless cares, and earnestly and zealously establish all our hopes upon these sure and gracious foundations? That in which we are chiefly lacking is a faith grounded upon hope, to which the Wise Man exhorts us when he says: "Believe God, and He will recover thee"(Eccles. 2:6)
2. If we examine more closely these sacred promises which are the foundations of our faith, we shall not find the least cause to doubt their happy fulfillment. "If he had promised to us that which was difficult or impossible of execution," says St. Bernard, "it would be allowable for us to choose another basis for our hopes; but to Him, all things are possible by the power of His word only, and what can be easier than this? "Who shall dare cite a single instance wherein God has been unfaithful to His promise? The Wise Man challenges the whole world to deny the fact, when he cries out to the doubting multitude: "Know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded." (Eccles. 2:11) "Who is it," says St. Augustine, "of whom one is accustomed to say, that he has been 'confounded'? He who can truly say: 'That which I have hoped for, I have not received.'" But when has this happened? When you have founded your hopes upon yourself, or upon some other creature. Then, you will be confounded; then, your hopes will be disappointed; then, you will incur that terrible malediction of divine wrath: "Cursed be the man who puts his trust in creatures." But, because the groundwork of divine hope is so certain, and the tie so close that unites it to faith, the Apostle says of faith itself: "And whosoever believeth in Him, shall not be confounded." (Rom. 9:33) This, again, my brethren, is no other than that faith of which we have already spoken, and which St. Bernard denominates the faith founded upon the promises of God.
Peroration (a restating):
Dearest Saviour! we no longer ask thee, in union with the disciples of John, "Art Thou he that art to come, or look we for another?" We say rather with Nicodemus: "Rabbi, we know that Thou art come a teacher from God; for no man can do these miracles which thou doest, unless God was with him." (John 3:2) We are not only convinced in our hearts of these incontestable truths of faith which thou hast revealed to us, but we will profess them with our mouths and works all the days of our lives. We do not wish to be ranked among those who "confess that they know God, but in their deeds, they deny him." (Titus 1:16) Ah! no, my brethren, our works shall, with the help of divine grace, accord with the belief of our hearts; and then our faith will prove no more an empty, unprofitable profession of the lips, but, "supported by hope," will be the true faith "which worketh by charity." (Gal. 5:6) Amen.
All that I can add to that is: "Come, Lord Jesus!"
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