Second Sunday of Advent

I don’t know about you, but I like being comfortable. Comfortable with my routine, with my way of doing things, with my opinions. I admit it. I like being right and like things done my way. Which, honestly, more likely than not, are the same thing. Just ask my husband. But the problem I keep running into, is that no matter how comfortable I am with my way, there always seems to be someone who comes along and wants to shake it up. Again, just ask my husband.

When this happens, I have a choice. I can look at the source and deem them unworthy of being listened to for whatever reason I can come up with. They don’t know all the details, they are too young or too old to understand, or I just plain don’t like the way they dress. I can find all sorts of reasons to dismiss an idea that calls me to change. Or I can listen to what they have to say and pick and choose what part of it I want to adopt. Maybe there is some value in part of what they are saying. I can change a little bit in this one small area, because I kind of sort of agree with them already. I mean, I would have thought of the same thing eventually. They just beat me to it. 

But the real issue I have comes when I’m called out to make a radical change. I don’t like being told that I need to rethink my opinion, my way of doing things, or my choices. Pushing me out of my comfort zone will come with a great deal of kicking, screaming, clawing, and crying. It’s not a pretty sight. 

I wonder about the Pharisees and Sadducees and their interactions with John the Baptist. I’m sure they were quite comfortable as the Jewish leaders. I am sure they knew they had the best way to worship and live their faith. What did they think of this crazy man in the desert? Some may have dismissed him outright because he dressed funny and ate strange foods. Some may have taken part of what he said and thought that repentance through a public act of baptism seemed like a good idea. Everyone else was doing it, so why not? 

But I’ll bet when he began the whole “Brood of Vipers” thing, he hit a nerve. When he calls them out for being too comfortable and relying on being sons of Abraham, He reminds them that God can turn rocks into sons. He calls them to do more than just rest comfortably in their righteousness, but to produce good fruit, which means they need to shake up their lives and let go of the status quo. 

Where are you and I staying comfortable in our faith? Are we afraid to get closer to the Jesus and His church because it may mean stepping out of our safe place of doing it my way? Is His way going to be too hard? Or is letting go of my own pride and resting in Him a better way to live? Maybe this second Sunday of Advent is calling us to take some brave steps into the unknown, knowing that it’s not a mystery to Him. 

Barbara Moore is a wife, mother of five, and now "Bella" to new grandson Sawyer. She has been a member of Holy Family for the past 26 years. She loves sharing the Catholic faith with others through teaching, writing, or just over a cup of coffee.