Gospel Reflection for 16th December 3rd Sunday of Advent
John the Baptist comes with a message for us…
It would be fair to say that we all have our own favourite image or picture of God or Jesus. In the Old Testament God is described as wind, fire, a shepherd, a mighty rock and a shield, among others. In the gospels, Jesus spoke of himself as the Bread of Life, the Light of the Word, the Water of Life and the Vine, just to name a few. These earthly images help us to talk about God and Jesus in ways that are easy for us to grasp and understand. They help us to relate to God in our own words and images. But no word, image or picture of God that we use can ever fully grasp the fullness of God’s own identity.
However, in the first reading for today’s mass from the Prophet Zephaniah we are given a wonderfully life-giving and joyous image of God: we are told not be afraid anymore; God has overturned or done away with our sentence; the Lord, the king of Israel is in our midst and is very close to us.
Then, finally we are told God
‘will exult and rejoice over you; he will renew you with his love; he will dance with shouts and joy for you as on a day of festival.’
Our God is a singing and dancing God! God is not angry, fearsome, judgmental, remote, silent or distant. Our God is in our midst, with us, singing and dancing with joy over each of us. This is a very healthy and life-changing image of God that we can rejoice in and take great comfort from as we take another step on our Advent Journey.
In the gospel this Sunday, we meet John the Baptist again. Last Sunday he asked us to repent, change our and prepare a way for the Lord. In this Sunday’s gospels, the people ask him what they need to do to prepare for the Lord. He told them, if you have two coats, give one to a person who has none. The tax collectors who were known for stealing and cheating, were told not to take more than their legal right. The soldiers were told not to bully or beat people. Three times different groups asked what they had to do and three times John found the answer in justice, mercy and compassion; obey the law, treat each other fairly and care for those who are poor.
Perhaps this gospel holds a mirror up to each of us and presents us with the question; what do we have to do today ourselves to prepare a way for the Lord? The answers John gave the people are all about relationships and how the people treated or mistreated others.
As I move closer to celebrating Christmas, how am I treating other people around me in my family, at school or in work? Is there anything in my behaviour and in how I treat others that needs changing? Can I ask God to help me with this over the coming week?
We have nothing to fear or worry about: God will renew us with his love and God will dance with shouts of joy for us as on a day of festival!
– Br Michael Moore OMI
Luke 3:10-18
When all the people asked John, ‘What must we do?’ he answered, ‘If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same.’ There were tax collectors too who came for baptism, and these said to him, ‘Master, what must we do?’ He said to them, ‘Exact no more than your rate.’ Some soldiers asked him in their turn, ‘What about us? What must we do?’ He said to them, ‘No intimidation! No extortion! Be content with your pay!’A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people, who were beginning to think that John might be the Christ, so John declared before them all, ‘I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fan is in his hand to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.’ As well as this, there were many other things he said to exhort the people and to announce the Good News to them.
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