Homily for the Mass of the 2nd Sunday of Advent: “How far do I want to go in my conversion?”

Sunday 7 December 2025
2rd Sunday of Advent – ​​Year A

Homily by Father Emmanuel Schwab

First reading: Isaiah 11,1:1-10
Psalm: 71 (72), 1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
Second reading: Romans 2:15,4-9
Gospel: Matthew 3,1-12

We will hear from him in a few days, namely on Christmas Day: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” John was not merely a prophet of old whose ministry had seemingly ended… John’s ministry is still relevant today, and Jesus will begin his public life by taking over from John the Baptist and resuming the same preaching call to conversion in Bethany, beyond the Jordan, while John himself goes up to Samaria to continue his work. This call to conversion resounds among the people of Israel, but it also resounds among us. What should we do? John uses very harsh words. He calls his listeners “brood of vipers,” clearly “sons of the serpent,” that is, “sons of the devil,” and he tells them that their conversion must be not illusory or intentional, but concrete and real. "Therefore, produce fruits that express your conversion."

In the second reading we hear today, Paul speaks of the Holy Scriptures and tells us about “perseverance and the ‘comfort’—one could also translate it as ‘consolation’—of the Scriptures,” so that we may have hope. One of the sources of our conversion is our meditation on the Word of God, for the Word of God is effective; it transforms hearts (cf. Heb 4:12). And there is no possible conversion if we do not allow the Word of God to work on us; that is why we must take time to read it, to know it, to meditate on it.

The second thing we can note is, in Isaiah's prophecy, the announcement of this offspring from the stump of Jesse, that is, as a new messiah king. who will not judge by appearances, who will not pronounce judgment on rumors, who will judge the lowly with justiceAnd this offspring, this promised Messiah King, will establish a reign of peace, so it is to him that we must seek the peace of our conversion. Our hearts are restless and troubled by the evil that dwells within us. Our hearts are restless and troubled by the sin that continues to do its work within us. Our hearts are at peace and generous when goodness dwells within us. Until our death, we will be in this mixture within us… but as long as the Messiah King, Jesus, dwells in our hearts, as long as it is the Lord Jesus whom we seek to listen to, to love, and to follow, as long as it is from him that we seek our conversion, then we will grow in peace.

Thérèse of the Child Jesus speaks of conversion, and she does so in two contexts: her own conversion and the conversion of sinners. She mentions her own conversion twice: once in manuscript A when she recounts Christmas night 1886 (45r°), and again in a letter to Father Roulland where she tells him about, and summarizes for him, that Christmas night, in which she speaks of her complete conversion (LT201 of November 1, 1896). What happened on that Christmas night? Thérèse summarizes it in a very important sentence. Since the death of her mother, Thérèse has experienced heightened sensitivity: she cries easily, she cries for having cried. She cannot control this sensitivity and cannot control her tears, and she says of herself: I was really unbearableIt wasn't for lack of trying, but none of her efforts were able to quell or control this hypersensitivity. On Christmas night, Thérèse managed to hold back her tears and immediately understood that if she had been able to do so, it was thanks to Jesus. And she summed up this event in this magnificent sentence:

In an instant, Jesus did the work that I had not been able to do in 10 years, content with my good will which never failed me. (MsA 45v°)

Thérèse is aware that her complete conversion is the work of Christ: Jesus did it, but the work of Christ comes as if to insert itself into the good will of Thérèse: content with my goodwill which never failed meThis goodwill of Thérèse, which is her openness to grace, which is her capacity to welcome the grace of conversion.

When we hear the preaching of John the Baptist, we might be tempted to become rigid, saying to ourselves: I will succeed, through my efforts, on this point of conversion, on that other point…
"No!" "Without me, said Jesus, "There's nothing you can do." (John 15:5). Jesus does not tell us: “you cannot do everything,” he does not tell us: “you cannot go all the way”… Without me, you can't do anything.So, whatever areas of conversion in our lives we need to work on, let's begin by asking for the grace to make them happen, very concretely: Lord Jesus, grant me the grace, in this aspect of my life, that I may truly convert.Perhaps we should add: whatever the cost to meAnd by adding this, we will see if we truly desire it, if we truly want it, or if we are merely thinking: Lord, if it costs me a little too much, so be it, leave it as it is… How far do I want to go in my conversion?

In the ordinary process for the beatification of Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Céline, her sister three and a half years her senior, under the religious name of Sister Geneviève, gives this testimony:

One day, having read this passage from Ecclesiasticus: “Mercy will give each person their due according to the merit of their works” (Sirach 16:15), I asked her why it said “according to the merit of their works,” since Saint Paul speaks of “being justified freely by grace” (Romans 3:24). She then explained to me with passion that if the true spirit of childhood was imbued with abandonment and trust in God, it was no less imbued with humility and sacrifice. You have  — she told me — To do all that is within oneself, to give without counting the cost, to practice virtue on every occasion, to constantly renounce oneself, to prove one's love through every delicacy and tenderness—in short, to produce all the good works in our power out of love for God. But, in truth, since all this is of little worth, it is urgent to place all one's trust in Him who alone sanctifies works, and who can sanctify without works, since He draws from the children of Abraham even stones. (Cf. Mt 3:9) Yes, it is necessary, when we have done all that we believe we must do, to admit that we are useless servants. (Cf. Luke 17:10)hoping, however, that the good Lord will give us, by [373r] grace, all that we desire. This is the “little way of childhood.” ».

And Sister Geneviève continues:

The Servant of God was so far removed from a vague and indolent piety that she had based her own on the love of the cross. She so greatly appreciated the arduous work of suffering that she did not believe she could live by love without it. (Testimony of Sister Geneviève (Céline) at the Trial of the Ordinary)

Well, brothers and sisters, in hearing this morning this call to conversion from John the Baptist, in this time when we are called to revive in ourselves vigilance in anticipation of the coming in glory of the Lord, let us also hear this invitation from Thérèse to enter into total trust in God, and to ask for the grace of our complete conversion so that we may truly not only please God, but be more in the world, salt of the earth and light.

Amen.