The Fire Next Time – A Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent

An old spiritual says, God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, but the fire next time. The second reading in today’s Mass speaks to us of the “fire next time” and again reminds us of the need to be ready for the coming of the Lord. In this homily, I will focus on that second reading, wherein St. Peter reminds us of the passing that will come for us all, sooner or later. And since Advent is a time to prepare through prayer and repentance, we do well to heed this sacred teaching and warning, echoed by St. John the Baptist as well, of whom the Gospel today says, A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mk 1:2-3).

Note four aspects of the second reading:

I. The PATIENCE that is PURPOSEFUL – The text says, Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Though the Lord seems long-delayed in coming (2000+ years!), the text tells us that this delay is so that as many of us as possible can be saved.

But notice that the text says that God wants us to come to repentance. So God’s patience should not be seen as an excuse for presumption, but, rather, a time for repentance. This is no time to say, “Later.” This is a time to be serious about repenting and about preparing to meet the Lord.

Note, too, that the Greek word here translated as repentance is μετάνοιαν (metanoian), referring not just to better behavior, but also to a new mind. For our transformation is not merely external, but also internal. When what we think changes, so does our behavior. When our thinking is conformed to God’s revealed truth, our priorities, feelings, desires, and decisions all begin to change as well. Conversion and repentance are the result of being a changed and transformed human being with a new mind.

II. The PASSING that is PERILOUS – The text says, But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.

In effect, the text says that God’s gonna set this world on fire one of these days. And when he comes it will be

Sudden – For the text says that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief.

This image is quite a consistent with the image Jesus used for the Day of Judgment as well. But the image should not be true for those of us who wait and watch. St. Paul says, But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief … So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled (1 Thess 5:4,6).

Further, the image of God as a thief is also not appropriate for us if we realize that all we have and all we are belongs to God. For those who are worldly and who claim authority over themselves and their things, God is a thief who comes suddenly and in a hidden way. He overtakes their perceived ownership and possession and puts an end to it. To them He seems a thief as He “steals” what they consider theirs. They are badly misled.

But for us who watch and are prepared (pray God), the Lord comes not to take but to give. He comes to bestow and reward as we inherit His Kingdom.

Shocking – For the text speaks of the roaring heavens and of fire that overwhelms, and by it, all will be dissolved with fire.

Now here, too, the image, though shocking, should not alarm us if we are already on fire. At Pentecost, as well as at our individual baptism and confirmation, the Lord lit a fire within us in order to set us on fire, in order to  bring us up to the temperature of glory. Thus, for those in the Lord, the “weather” on that day will seem just fine.

The prophet Malachi speaks of the twofold experience of the Day of the Lord in this way: “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. Notice therefore, that for some the Day is burning with wrathful heat, but for the Just, it is a sunny day wherein the Sun (Son) of righteousness will bring warmth and healing (Mal 4:1-3).

An old spiritual refers to this verse saying, God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no water but the fire next time. Thus God wants to get us ready by setting us on fire with His love and grace. If God is a Holy Fire then we must become fire ourselves in order to endure the day of His coming.

Showing – For the text says that all things will be revealed.

So it would seem that this fire burns away the masks many people wear, leaving them to be seen for what they really are. The Lord says, But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken (Matt 12:36). And again He says, There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs (Lk 12:2-3).

Now even the just may wince at this, for all of us have a past and most would prefer that the past stay in the past. But I have sometimes seen, when I have visited 12-Step meetings, how many will recount vividly what they did when they were drinking. And they seem to do so with little shame and much laughter, for they share it with those who understand, those who have also been set free from the source of the problem. Perhaps, for the just, on that disclosing Day it will be like that.

But for those who are among the unrepentant, imagine the embarrassment and fear as their secrets, sins, and injustices are disclosed to those who are also unforgiving and unmerciful. A bad scene, really.

III. The PRESCRIPTION that is PROCLAIMED – The text says, Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire … Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.

The text asks rhetorically, “What sort of persons ought you to be?” In a word, the answer is “fiery.” God has lit a fire within us to purify and refine us. Hence, on that day when the Lord will judge by fire, we will pass through. And though some final purifications (purgation) may take place, the fact that the fire has been kindled in us and has already been fanned into a flame, will mean purification, not destruction.

St Paul describes the just as going through the purgatorial fire that leads to purification rather than destruction in Hell: If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames (1 Cor 3:12-15).

So the prescription for us is to let God set us afire now so as to purify us, making us more holy and devout. The fire now of His Holy Spirit is the only thing that can truly prepare us  and permit us to endure the day of His coming and be spared the “wrath to come” (cf 1 Thess 1:10; Matt 3:7; Romans 5:9; 1 Thess 5:9) when God will judge the world and everything in it by fire.

IV. The PERFECTION that is PROMISED – The text says, But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

This text presents the possibility that the created world will not so much be destroyed as purified by this fiery judgment of God. While the text may also signify a total destruction of all that now is and a replacement of it by new heavens and earth, it is also argued that the created world will instead be renewed rather than destroyed and replaced. This view would correspond with other texts (e.g., Isaiah 11 and Romans 8). For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God (Rom 8:20-21).

Whatever the answer to the debate, the bottom line is that the new (or renewed) world will be a heaven wedded to earth in which the full righteousness of God will be manifest. Further, we will be without spot or blemish and will be at peace. Yes, God’s gonna set this world on fire one of these days, hallelujah! And God’s fire purifies that which is holy, and burns away all that is lacking or unholy. God will restore all things in Christ!

The Dies Irae was originally written for the Second Sunday of Advent: