3rd Sunday of Advent (Cycle C, Year II)
Community Word: God gave us Jesus Christ to be our way to salvation.
Theme: We believe Jesus Christ is our way to salvation when we are filled with hope in Him and bring our expectations to others.
Promise: “The peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”(Phi 4:7)
Reflection:
The gospel reading is Luke’s account of the mission of John the Baptist, the precursor of the Savior. In it, Luke describes the three kinds of people who are listening to John: the crowd in general, the tax collectors, and the soldiers. John answers each of their questions according to their way of life. He admonishes the ordinary people to share what they have – their clothes and food – with those who are in need, if they are genuinely repentant and ready to change their lives.
The Romans had entrusted tax collection to collectors whose abusive behavior earned them the people’s distrust and hatred. Similarly, soldiers were unpopular because they represented the authority of Rome. Hence, these two classes of people were looked down upon by respectable society in old Israel – including those who are open to John’s message of repentance, the very ones who will also respond to the message of Jesus. ‘What must we do?’ they ask John. It is the kind of question we should ask with humble sincerity that is open to hearing the truth. It reminds us of Advent’s call to a deeper conversion and commitment on our part.
The Third Sunday of Advent overflows with the theme of the joy: We believe Jesus Christ is our way to salvation when we are filled with hope in Him and bring our expectation to others. The gospel’s reference to the feeling of anticipation that John’s preaching aroused, and his foretelling of the Lord who ‘will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire’ tie in with this theme. Clearly, the other readings have been chosen with this message of hope and joy in mind.
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes, ‘I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord’, and he goes on to recommend practical ways to achieve authentic happiness in the Lord: tolerance towards those whose ways are different from ours, prayers that unite trust in the Lord for our future needs, and thanksgiving for His many blessings in the past. No doubt, Paul’s faith in the One who baptizes ‘with the Holy Spirit and fire’ has given him a personal experience of the kind of peace he speaks of, the peace that only God can give.
Something is wrong if our faith never brings us deep joy. Joy is the experience we were created for. The faith that John the Baptist heralded, the faith that is the gift of the Risen Lord, and that unites Luke’s community and so many other communities after them, is a personal knowledge of God’s love and mercy. It brings the kind of joy and peace “that the world cannot give,” (Jn 14:27).
John only baptized with water but the Messiah, the one John refers to as being mightier than himself – Jesus, baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. That fire purifies what is good and destroys what is evil. It is a sign of God’s power and loving presence. And our role is not unlike that of John the Baptist. For it is also our task as Christians, whether lay persons, religious or priests, to bring people to genuine conversion, a conversion that brings them face to face with God, a conversion that brings real joy and happiness into their lives.
Believing that Jesus Christ is our way to salvation, we place our hope in Him, then we share such expectation with others. Like John, we should all be messengers of Christ, bringing hope and joy to others, beginning with our own family, and gradually forming our children to have the Christian spirit and outlook in life. A Christian family will be one where one experiences real joy, a place where each member always comes home with joyful anticipation and expectancy…a real home.
Prayer
Father believing in Your infinite love for us, continue to use us as Your instruments for bringing others to You. Fill us with joyful expectations and anticipation of Your coming to earth. We will always rejoice keeping in mind Your promise of Salvation.
Reflection Questions:
1. Have you ever experienced bringing joy to others, especially to your own family? Share your feelings about this.
2. Share moments in your community life when you went out on mission and how you have touched the lives of others.
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
December 13, 2015 (Sun) Zep 3:14-18/Is 12:2-3,4,5-6/Phil 4:4-7/Lk 3:10-18
December 14, 2015 (Mon) Nm 24:2-7,15-17/Ps 25:4-5,6,7,8-9/Mt 21:23-27
December 15, 2015 (Tue) Zep 3:1-2,9-13/Ps 34:2-3,6-7,17-18,19,23/Mt 21:28-32
December 16, 2015 (Wed) Is 45:6-8,18,21-25/Ps 85:9,10,11-12,13-14/Lk 7:18-23
December 17, 2015 (Thu) Gn 49:2,8-10/Ps 72:3-4,7-8,17/Mt 1:1-17
December 18, 2015 (Fri) Jer 23:5-8/Ps 72:1-2,12-13,18-19/Mt 1:18-25
December 19, 2015 (Sat) Jgs 13:2-7,24-25/Ps 71:3-4,5-6,16-17/Lk 1:5-25
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
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