Message from Father Michael Trainor
6th/7th December 2025
Second Sunday of Advent
The "Coming" of Jesus
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
We enter now into the second week of Advent. As I’ve reflected often, “Advent” means “Coming”. We reflect on the coming of Jesus. Last week our focus was centred on the coming of the Risen Christ at the end of time, with its clarion call, “Stay Awake”. This “staying awake” is to ready us for God’s definitive coming at the end of time but, more realistically, this coming will occur as we draw closer to death. Will we be “awake”, spiritually, for this coming? Our prayer always is, that we will. The life that we live out in generosity, kindness, hospitality and prayerful alertness—the very essence of our explicit parish vision and mission as “one”, “holy”, “catholic” and “Apostolic”— will ensure this spiritual readiness for God’s final coming as we breathe our final breath.
I’ve been pondering about what does this “coming” means in practical and spiritual terms. I found help in a pastoral letter written by St Charles Borromeo (1538-1585), Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, theological reformer and educator. He writes,
The Church asks us to understand that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again. When we remove all obstacles to his presence he will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell spiritually in our hearts, bringing with him the riches of his grace.
According to St Charles, Jesus is prepared to “come again”. Of course we remember this coming as we celebrate his birth, but there is another “coming” that Charles points out. Jesus’ coming is always, eternal and universal. At “any hour and moment”, this coming is a spiritual presence of Jesus to us as we “remove all obstacles to his presence”.
This requires an openness of our hearts, a recognition of their healing and forgiveness and a desire to be renewed deeply within so that we can act with integrity and love in our daily lives, with those we live with and meet, the stranger, the struggler, the sufferer, the homeless person, the impoverished ones served by our parish SVdP. We are also served in this through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and our Communal Rite of Penance, next Thursday, 11 December 7pm.
This week John the Baptist invites us to “prepare the way” for the coming of Jesus, to continue to prepare our hearts for Jesus coming. We move from the eschatological future to the more immediate celebration that is soon to unfold in Jesus’ birth.
May our hearts be renewed in this Advent week, to allow Jesus to bring to us “the riches of his grace” (St Charles),
Your brother,
Michael