He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

In this season of holy preparation, which is an invitation to return, to reorder, and to rekindle what has grown dim in us. Today’s readings ignite that call with a striking image: the Messiah who comes is not only gentle like the shoot from Jesse’s stump (Isaiah 11:1), but powerful, one who baptizes “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11).
Isaiah presents a world renewed by the Spirit: justice for the poor, harmony among former enemies, and creation restored. But this promise begins in something small—just a shoot, a tender branch from what looks like a dead stump. God often begins His greatest works in the places of our lives that appear barren or broken. Repentance, then, is not shame, it is giving God permission to grow life where we thought nothing good could come. Where is that “stump” in your soul today? A wounded relationship, a habit of sin, a place of discouragement? Advent asks us to make room for the shoot of new life.
Psalm 72 reinforces the heart of true preparation: longing for a King who brings justice, compassion, and peace. Repentance is not merely avoiding evil—it is actively choosing the way of Christ: becoming more fair, more gentle, more attentive to the poor and forgotten, beginning with those closest to us. The fire of the Spirit burns away selfishness and warms us into love.
St. Paul, in Romans 15, shifts our gaze outward: Advent preparation is not a private project but a communal journey. He calls us to live in harmony, to bear patiently with one another, and to welcome each other as Christ welcomed us. The Holy Spirit’s fire does not destroy; it purifies, heals, and unites. One practical Advent practice: choose one relationship that needs reconciliation, patience, or a fresh beginning—and make the first gentle move.

In the Gospel, John the Baptist calls us to a repentance that is concrete: “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.” Repentance is not just feeling sorry; it is changing direction. The ax at the root is not a threat but a reminder that God desires to prune away whatever keeps us from joy. The baptism of Jesus is not water alone—He baptizes with fire: the fire that consumes sin, the fire that gives zeal, the fire that forges saints.
So how do we prepare?
Examine honestly: Name one sin or habit that needs to be surrendered.
Act lovingly: Do one deliberate act of kindness or mercy each day of Advent.
Pray simply: “Holy Spirit, burn away what is not of God, and set my heart on fire for You.”
Reconcile intentionally: Restore peace where division lingers.
Advent’s promise is this: when we open even a small space, God plants a shoot of hope; when we offer even a little repentance, the Spirit sets it ablaze. Christ comes not just to visit but to transform. May His Spirit and fire make our hearts ready to welcome Him with joy.

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