“Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.” – Matthew 3:8
During Advent we all eagerly await the coming of Christmas – exchanging gifts, decorating the tree with lights, singing carols, drinking eggnog… the list goes on. None of these things appear to be the least bit penitential (except, perhaps, the annual struggle of unwinding the Christmas lights!). Most people would say that joy and penance are contradictory, but that is not the case. The Advent season can help us understand how joy is actually a fruit of penance.
In the Gospel reading for this Second Sunday of Advent, we encounter Saint John the Baptist as he steps boldly onto the scene, crying out: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matt. 3:2). He challenges the crowds of Judea to “prepare the way of the Lord” by acknowledging their sins and getting baptized. He goes on admonishing them by saying that if they fail to bear good fruit, then they will be “cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt. 3:10).
You might be wondering… what does this seemingly “fire and brimstone” kind of message have to do with joy? Well, in the subsequent lines of the same Gospel passage, John the Baptist proceeds to expand upon the image of fire. He says that the One coming after him “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt. 3:11).
This is the key! The Holy Spirit is the Source of all joy. He is the fire of God’s love, and He alone can set our hearts ablaze with exultant praise. Repentance - turning back to God – is what allows us to be properly disposed for receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When we commit a mortal sin and fall from grace, we must confess our wrongdoing and practice penance through the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that the flame of God’s love can be re-ignited in our souls.
If we do this, then the Holy Spirit will always find a home in our hearts. There He will plant His gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, courage, piety, wonder and awe. And, if we consistently cultivate an attitude of conversion, then these gifts will give rise to an abundant harvest of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
Let’s listen to St. John the Baptist and do penance this Advent, so that we can experience the blazing joy of the Holy Spirit.
Come, Lord Jesus, have mercy on us sinners. Renew within us the fire of Your love and let us rejoice always in Your consolations. Amen.