FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT (B)

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.

Lk 1:26-38

EXPLANATION OF THE GOSPEL

The angel Gabriel was sent from God…

The angel Gabriel is traditionally given the rank of an archangel. His name means “my Master is God.” There are two archangels mentioned in the Bible. They are Raphael (God heals) and Michael (Who is like God?). Raphael appears in the Book of Tobit while Michael in the Book of Revelation.

…to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,…
Although Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he grew up in Nazareth.

…to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David…

There is an allusion here to Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin/young girl shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” The original Hebrew word used may mean a young girl or a virgin. However, the Greek translation of the Hebrew bible called the Septuagint prefers the word ‘virgin’. And it is the Septuagint that Matthew and Luke use. Hence, Luke’s gospel states that the angel Gabriel was sent to a virgin.

Betrothed here is a technical term to mean a situation of a legal marriage con-tract where man and wife do not yet live together. In Galilee it was the last state of an engagement prior to moving in together.

The detail that Joseph is of the house of David is important for it is through Joseph that Jesus becomes part of the house of David and thus, fulfils the proph-ecy that the Messiah would come from David’s house.

“Hail, full of grace!”

Full of grace is also translated as “favored one”.

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.

This is why Mary is the favored one.

“How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”

This response can not be taken as doubt because unlike Zechariah, Mary was not punished.

Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

That God would send his Son is a startling New Testament assertion.

OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS

Obedience is defined as compliance with what is required by authority. It comes from the Latin words “ob” and “audire”. “Ob” means towards. “Audire means “to listen”. Obedience means to listen to what authority is saying in order to carry it out.

When the Fourth Commandment commands: Honor your father and your mother. It commands children to respect, love and obey their parents.

Obedience is about turning off the lights when a child is told by his mom: “Anak, patayin mo ang ilaw sa sala.”

Obedience is about washing the dishes without being told when it is your turn to wash the dishes.

Obedience, however, is above all about carrying out the teaching of your parents. The Panatang Makabayan goes this way:
Iniibig ko ang Pilipinas
Ito ang aking lupang sinilangan
Ito ang tahanan ng aking lahi
Ako'y kanyang kinukupkop at tinutulungan
Upang maging malakas, maligaya at kapakipakinabang
Bilang ganti, diringgin ko ang payo ng aking mga magulang
Susundin ko ang mga tuntunin ng aking paaralan
Tutuparin ko ang mga tungkulin ng isang mamamayang makabayan at masunurin sa batas
Paglilingkuran ko ang aking bayan nang walang pag-iimbot at ng buong katapatan
Sisikapin kong maging isang tunay na pilipino
sa isip, sa salita, at sa gawa.

By God’s will children are obliged to obey their parents so that parents can successfully carry out the duty of raising their children to become upright citizens and good Christians. If children do not obey the counsel of their parents, how can parents help their children grow up to become responsible adults and good Christians. This duty is so grave that in the OT punishment for a rebellious son or daughter is death by stoning.

Think about the counsel (payo) that your parents have been giving you during your growing years. Did you ever hear your mom or dad tell you: “Anak, pabayaan mo ang pag-aaral. Wala kang mapapala diyan (Son/daughter, neglect your studies. It won’t help you anyway.).” Or “Anak, siguraduhin mo na sasama ka sa mga masasamang barkada (Son/daughter, make sure you go with bad companions.).” Or “Anak, siguraduhin mo na bago ka makatapos mag-aral ay nakapag-asawa ka na (Son/daughter, make sure that you get married before finishing your studies.).”

The Fourth Commandment is not just about the duty of children towards their children. It is also about the duty of parents to their children. It is not just about the duty of obeying one’s parents. It is also about the grave responsibility of parents to raise their children to become responsible adults and good Christians. Therefore, by word and example parents are to teach their children.

Two other concerns.

I saw a drawing of an old woman confessing to a priest. She said her sin was of disobeying her parents. That made me laugh. Her parents were probably dead already. But even if her parents were still alive, she could not possibly have disobeyed her parents anymore because she was already an adult. She was no longer a minor who still had to be raised by her parents. (However, if one were still living with his parents, you still have to obey them in certain things such as house rules.) Having said that, the duty of respecting and loving one’s parents remain.

The second concern is about punishment. The bible says spare the rod and spoil the child. Years back this was understood as physical punishment. I am not for cruel physical punishment. But if you need to spank your child, don’t carry out the punishment when you are angry. For if you do, you are punishing out of anger and not out of love. My brother-in-law punished his children by having them stand in the corner. Others punish by grounding their children for some time. That is, not allowing them to leave the house for example, on weekends.

When Mary replied, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word”, she was giving her obedience to God. She is giving us an example. By carrying out the Fourth Commandment, we follow the good example of Mary. By obeying the Fourth Commandment, both parents and children like Mary give their obedience to God.

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT (B)

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light.

Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

EXEGESIS

When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?”

In his Gospel John uses the term Jews for those who were hostile to Jesus, particularly the Jewish religious leaders.

Are you Elijah?

According to Malachi and Sirach, the prophet Elijah will return to preach re-pentance for one last time before the final judgment. “Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, Before the day of the LORD comes, the great and terrible day” (Mal 3:23).

“Are you the Prophet?”

The expectation for a prophet at the end time was common. It is probably based on Deuteronomy 18:15. Moses spoke to the people, saying: “A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kinsmen; to him you shall listen.”

“There is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”

It was the job of a slave to remove the sandals of his master.

This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

This is not the Bethany where Lazarus, Martha and Mary lived.

NOTE:

The Gospel of John presents Jesus as if he were on trial. Witnesses are called forward to testify on behalf of Jesus. The first witness presented is John the Baptist.

THE DESERT

“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord.’” An alternative reading would be: “I am the voice of one crying out, “In the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord.’”

The desert or wilderness is often mentioned in the Bible.

The Israelites would not enter the Promised Land on account of the discour-aging reports of the spies sent by Joshua to reconnoiter the Land. For their lack of faith and disobedience, God punished them. None of them would enter and occupy the Promised Land. And so they wandered in the desert 40 years.

On the Day of Atonement, a goat was chosen and all the sins of the people were laid on it. Afterwards it was sent to the desert. The desert was the abode of Azazel or Satan.

During the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, those who were faithful to the Jewish religion fled to the desert. “It was reported to the officers and soldiers of the king who were in the City of David, in Jerusalem, that certain men who had flouted the king's order had gone out to the hiding places in the desert” (1Mac 2:31).

After his baptism, Jesus went to the desert and stayed there forty days and forty nights. Within that period, he was tempted by the devil. But he came out victorious.

The monks of old fled the cities and lived in desert in order to find God there. St. Anthony was the most famous among them.

The desert can teach us something about how to prepare for Christmas. While it would be impossible for most of us to go to the desert or to the wilderness, we can in some way re-create the spirit of the desert. And in this way prepare the way of the Lord.

The spirit of the desert consists of three key words: silence, solitude and spiritual combat.

SILENCE

We need interior silence in order to hear God’s voice. Where did Elijah find God? Not in the strong wind. Not in the earthquake. Not in the fire. But in the tiny whispering sound. Where can we hear this whisper of God? In the examination of conscience. In sacred scripture. But n order to hear God’s whisper, we need inte-rior silence. But this interior silence is almost impossible to achieve when there is an overpowering exterior noise. This noise is not necessarily something that the ears perceive. Anything that catches the attention of our senses is noise. Anything that takes away our attention from God during the examination of conscience or during the prayerful reading of the Bible is noise. Using a portable device to pray the day’s scripture reading (see Pray As You God website) will be for many a practical way of creating interior silence even when one is commuting.

SOLITUDE

We need some time to be by ourselves. Solitude is not being lonely. It is not even being “alone”. Solitude is being present to oneself and being present to God. We need solitude so that we may step back and look at ourselves and at our life. We need solitude so that we can get in touch with the deepest desires of our heart. And having taken stock of ourselves, of our lives and of the desires of our hearts, we can bring whatever we have discovered for discussion with God. Who knows? God may tell us what he wants us to do.

SPIRITUAL COMBAT

It was in the desert that Jesus fought his spiritual combat against Satan. It was also in the desert that the monks of old fought their spiritual combat. We don’t need to go to a geographical desert to fight our spiritual battle, for the spiritual battlefield is right in our hearts. It is in our hearts where the battle between good and evil take place. It is in our hearts where the battle for supremacy is going on. Will God be supreme in our hearts? Or will it be the Evil One? It is not difficult to find help in tipping the battle in favor of God. There are three simple but power means: confession, communion and spirit of prayer. Confession exorcises the evil from our heart. Communion gives God possession of our heart. It is not just prayer but spirit of prayer. It means that we must find ways in order to remember God throughout the day. Or in classic terminology, we must find ways in order to lift up our minds and hearts to God throughout the day.

Christmas is not just about remembering what happened in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. It is experiencing for ourselves what happened then. But what exactly did happen in Bethlehem? With the birth of Jesus God is truly with us. God is truly Emmanuel. Through silence, solitude and spiritual combat we hope to give God possession of our hearts. When that happens, is God not truly with us?

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (B)

John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Mk 1:1-8

PROPHET, POET, AND PRAGMATIST

St. John the Baptist is the last prophet of the OT. The word prophet reminded me of a classification for certain kinds of persons. The classification was prophet, poet, and pragmatist.

The prophet is someone who is not afraid to speak out. He is not afraid of calling a spade, a spade. He will speak the truth even if it will cost him his head. John the Baptist dared tell Herod that it was not right for him to take the wife of his brother, Philip. He was not afraid to call the religious leaders of Israel, a brood of vipers.

But the prophet does not speak out in order to hurt people. He does not speak out in order to antagonize them. No. He speaks out in order to call people to change and by changing their ways, also change the prevailing situation. The job of the prophet is a thankless job. Who wants to create enemies?

We need prophets during this time of Advent. We need prophets to break the bubble of our pride. We need prophets to make us realize that we are not as good as we think we are. We need prophets to tell us exactly what’s wrong with us.

There may be no one who will willingly be a prophet to us. We may have to ask somebody to play that role. We may need to ask that person to do us a great deed of kindness by opening our eyes and telling us where we need to change.

The poet is someone who sets possibilities before us. He sees the ugliness of the present but tells people that things don’t have to remain that way. He points to a beautiful future that all of us can create together.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a poet. He witnessed, nay he experienced first hand the oppression of black Americans at the hands of white Americans. It was ugly. But he knew in his heart that things don’t have to be that way. He created a dream in his heart and then shared that dream with America. He said: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. “

We need a poet during this time of Advent. We need a poet who can make us see the ugliness of sin in our lives. We need a poet who can persuade us that things don’t have to be that way. We need a poet who can make us see that good is beautiful.

Where do we get a poet to inspire us? Attend the simbang gabi. The homilies may inspire you. Buy an inspirational book. Read the bible. Read the life of a saint. Look around you and get your inspiration from the good example of others. Or you may just have to be a poet to yourself. Use your imagination. Imagine what kind of person you want to be.

The pragmatist is someone who gets things done. He delivers. Things don’t remain in the drawing board. He turns plans into reality.

Lee Kwan Yu is a pragmatist. He turned Singapore into a prosperous city-state. They say that the former Clark Airbase is even bigger than Singapore. Yet 1 Singapore dollar is equivalent to 32 Philippine Peso.

We need to be a pragmatist during this time of Advent. We may want to undertake some changes in our lives. But there is a real danger that our good intentions remain only good intentions. Hanggang salita. Walang gawa. Good intentions are important. They are the first step. Unless you take the first step, you will always remain where you are. But we need more than the first step in order to get somewhere, right?

How do we become a pragmatist? First, decide what behaviour you want to change. Only one behaviour. Not two. For example, I am quick to criticize or scold my children. Second, imagine what new behaviour you want as replacement. For example, I will be on the lookout for a good behaviour of my children and commend them for it. Third, at the end of the day or at the beginning of a new day, check how many times you have been able to practice the new behaviour. And finally, give yourself a Christmas gift if the new behaviour becomes a habit by Epiphany.

St. John the Baptist has been described as “a voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’” By December 25, will Jesus Christ find a prepared path into your heart?