SECOND SUNDAY of ADVENT

Sisters & Brothers

Human life contains many choices. We can say that life is a huge chain of choices. From our childhood to the last breath – constant choices. Some of them are very simple, like what to eat for breakfast. We do not think about them much. But there are more serious decisions we have to make daily or very often, like how to spend our money - what is priority of our purchase.

We have to make even more serious decisions: what will be my way of life? What I want to do in my life and what profession I should choose? In which country I want to live? With whom I want to spend the rest of my life? They are huge decisions; they are difficult choices. Sometimes we are happy with them, sometimes we regret them. We regret because we could do something better, we could make better decisions. We regret because we understand that if twenty or thirty years ago our choice was different, our lives would be nicer and easier. But regret is about our past. Usually, we cannot change it. 

Today John the Baptist invites us not to look to the past but to think about the future. John does not encourage us to regret anything in our lives. He suggests not to regret but repent. The two words sounds similar; people use them interchangeably but in fact they are so different. When people regret usually they are focus on themselves, on their wellbeing. That feeling could be selfish. But John encourages to repent, that means to reflect on our lives and decisions, to think about consequences, material and moral alike.

Repentance does not lead us to sadness or depression but to action, to positive changes. It is not focussed on us but on others. Repentance focusses on our relationship to God, our relatives and friends. That reflection helps us to understand what impact on other people have our choices and decisions. 

We are starting the second week of Advent. This is a time of waiting for Christ. It should be a time to reflect what kind of relationship we want to have with him and with people around us. Do we want to welcome Jesus in our houses? Do we prepare room for him? We have choices and decisions to make. This is the second week of Advent. Did you start already any preparation? If not, do not regret, do not worry about past week. Repent; reflect on what you can do today? What can you change and how can you use the coming time to be ready to see Jesus at Christmas? 

Let us repent, reflect and make right decision that we do not have to regret in the future our choices. 

Have a blessed advent,

Fr. Bogdan