2nd Sunday of Advent - homily

We have cards for you tonight about a program called, “Come Home for Christmas”. The holidays are a time for being home with family; home is so significant for us. We should also come home to God and the Church through Confession during the holidays, especially those who have been away. I will offer GW students a chance to come home for Christmas this Wednesday, December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (a holy day of obligation). I will offer confessions from 4-6 pm and 8-10 pm on Wednesday at the Newman Center. Please come by then or other times before you leave and invite other GW Catholics to come home for Christmas.


We hear from St. John the Baptist in today’s Gospel. It always reminds me of a funny story from my home parish years ago. Two of the priests who were stationed there were Father Wells and Father Gonzalez who is now Bishop Gonzalez of Washington. The two of them got along so well – both fun guys! They had fun with each other and enjoyed each other’s company. One time, they were at a parish party talking with a parishioner. The parishioner said to Fr Wells, “Father Wells, you preach like John the Baptist!” Fr. Wells turned to Fr Gonzalez and said with a smile, “hmmmm…John the Baptist!” He began to show some signs of boasting and gloating. Fr Gonzalez then asked the parishioner, “what about me?”, as Fr Wells laughed. The woman said, “oh, Fr Gonzalez, you preach like Jesus!” (Fr Wells went silent).

There is much confusion about Advent. Students have been asking me what this season is all about. Based on what we hear St. John the Baptist preach to the Jews, I can put it in a simple phrase that we have on our Come Home for Christmas cards: “’tis the season for giving and forgiving”. Advent is a season for giving and forgiving.

It is a season for giving…giving our hearts to Christ. This was the message of John the Baptist. He was speaking mainly to Pharisees whose hearts were not in it. If you know anything about the Pharisees, you know that they were all about following the law. But, their hearts were not in it. They were simply going through the motions. They assumed that just because they were Jews who followed the law that they were saved. John the Baptist called them out on it and told them they had to repent! Repentance means to turn away from sin and turn back to God. It means to have a change of heart…a conversion of heart.

He says the same thing to us: repent! Unfortunately, many Catholics are like the Pharisees in that they just go through the motions. Their bodies are here on Sundays, but their hearts are not. Each of us needs to give our heart to Christ this Advent! Folks, this is what it’s all about. It’s all about giving our hearts to Christ. So, get down on your knees before Christmas Day and make a profound prayer in which you say to Jesus, “Lord, I give you my heart”. If you have done this before, renew it. If you haven’t done it, do it for the first time. If you’re like me, you do it every day. I get down on my knees every day and give my heart to Christ because I still haven’t given it fully to Him yet. If every Catholic did this…if every practicing Catholic had a conversion of heart…if they really were engaged with Christ in their hearts…then we priests would be the busiest people on earth: constant confessions, spiritual direction, prayers, blessings, etc. We are busy now, but not as busy as we should be. If every practicing GW Catholic has a conversion of heart, then I wouldn’t have a moment’s peace…kinda what I want!

‘Tis the season for giving and forgiving. If we have experienced a conversion of heart, then there should be some external sign of it. St. John calls the Jews to “produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance”. For them, it primarily would have been Baptism. For us who have been baptized, it is primarily Confession. Confession is the outward sign of our conversion of heart. Every time someone goes to Confession, they have a conversion of heart! That is why hearing confessions is my favorite part of being a priest. As much as I love celebrating Mass, I only see bodies there; but, in Confession, I encounter souls…hearts that want to turn away from sin and turn back to the Lord. The outward sign of Confession is not external or symbolic; it contains the grace it signifies. This is true of Baptism and all of the sacraments. This is the grace that saves us.

Finally, at this and every Mass, we remember that Christ gave his heart to us on the Cross. He continues to give his heart to us in the Eucharist. May the Eucharist give us the courage, strength, and faith to give our hearts to Christ in a real way during Advent and receive the forgiveness of God through Confession as evidence of our repentance.