3rd SUNDAY OF ADVENT (C)

The crowds asked John the Baptist,“What should we do?”

Lk 3:10-18

GOSPEL EXPLANATION

The gospel passage of today may be divided into two parts. The first part is about the answer of John the Baptist to the question: “What should we do?” The second part is about the Christ.

To the question, “What should we do?” John’s answer was to share one’s food and clothing. To the tax collectors, his response was to collect only what was prescribed. To the soldiers, he said that they should not to resort to extortion, and false accusation and that they should be content with their pay. It is interesting to note that John did not ask his hearers for religious acts but for acts of justice and charity.

The second part is about the people’s question about the identity of John the Baptist. Could he be the Christ? The use of the title, the Christ and not the title, the Messiah, is significant. It is possible that St. Luke wanted to avoid the political undertones of the title, the Messiah. John denied being the Christ. In fact, compared to the Christ he was even lower than a slave. A slave unties the thongs of the sandal of his master. He was not even worthy to do that.

John the Baptist also describes what the Christ would do. He would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. This was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire. He would also use his winnowing fan to separate the chaff from the grain. This is an image of the judgment that the Christ would make: rewarding the good and punishing the evil ones.

BEING HAPPY

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2nd SUNDAY OF ADVENT (C)

A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord."

Lk 3:1-6

EXPLANATION OF THE GOSPEL

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar….

Why did St. Luke include historical data in his narrative? By situating the story of John the Baptist and later of Jesus in the context of history, he might want to re-assure us that everything he writes is not made up. The story of John the Baptist and of Jesus is historical fact.

The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.

This expression identifies John the Baptist as a prophet. His role is that of precursor, that is, he prepares for the coming the Messiah among his people.

THE ROAD

The gospel speaks about the way of the Lord. It also talks about winding roads and rough ways. I will dwell on the words road and way for this Sunday’s reflection.

Rough Road

If you take the Silangan exit of the South Luzon Expressway, you’ll come to see the bad situation of the road. In many places the cement has cracked so much so that you have to drive slowly. For this reason the companies of the industrial estate came together and pooled their resources in order to repair the road. In the process, however, only one side of the road can be used in certain places. Thus, you have to stop and wait for incoming the vehicles to pass through.

In the same way, if we want to prepare the way of the Lord in our lives, we have to invest time and energy and make certain sacrifices in order to set things aright. For example, if we want to give up certain bad habits such as laziness or gossiping about people, we have to make the effort to exercise vigilance. We have to be on the alert so that if we were tempted to gossip about others, we would catch ourselves and keep our mouth shut instead. It would also mean making the effort at the end of the day to monitor our performance regarding the bad habit that we have decided to give up. This is called the examination of conscience.

Loosing One's Way

It was a holiday and a group of mountain hikers decided to climb to the summit of Mt. Makiling. Since there was already a trail to the top, they made it there only in a few hours. Having rested and enjoyed the panorama up there, the group decided to start going down. At some point, they lost their way. They started to panic when they found out that they were walking in circles. They kept on returning to the place where they started. They did not believe in superstition. But in their desperation, they did what the old folks used to say to those who got lost. They should wear their shirts inside out. They did and to their surprise and great relief, they found their way back.

Loosing one’s way is not only about making the wrong turn or taking the wrong street. Loosing one’s way can also mean straying from the path that is good and taking the path that is bad. To return to the right path, to find our way back, we need conversion. It is a 180-degree turn. But it is not just a matter of saying: “I have been lazy at home. From now on I will not be lazy at home.” One has to be more specific. I will, therefore say: “I have been lazy at home. From now on I will take the initiative of cleaning the house.” It is not helpful to say“I have been neglecting my family. From now on I will not neglect them.” I have to be more specific. I will say “I have been neglecting my family. From now on once I arrive home, I will go and look for my wife and my children and ask how their day went.”