2nd Week of Advent: Check Your Roots | One-Minute Homily

Advent is a time of preparation and growth. Fr. Joe Laramie, SJ, reminds us that we need to examine our lives and “check our roots” in this week’s One-Minute Homily. Based on the readings for December 8, 2019.

Are you bearing good fruit? If not, you might want to look at your roots.

Hi, I’m Fr Joe Laramie, and this is my One-Minute Homily.

We harvest a lush garden in the fall– squash, tomatoes, pumpkins, and melons. But that garden begins months before– by planting seeds early in the spring.

What about the seeds of faith? God plants them deep within us at our baptism, watering them with His grace and warming them with the fire of the Spirit. The Lord wants those roots to go deep– deep into the life of Christ and the sacraments.

Are we bearing good fruit? If so, then we’re living lives of prayer, love, and service. Or maybe not. The weeds of resentment and frustration can choke off a life of faith.

How healthy are my roots?

Am I taking time for prayer each day? What about the Sacraments? Am I asking for forgiveness, and forgiving others? Maybe I feel like my faith is dried out and splintered –like the stump of Jesse.

This season of Advent is a time of prayerful preparation. May the Holy Spirit strengthen our roots. We want to “Prepare the way” for the coming of Christ at Christmas.

A lush garden starts now– in the cold of December.