THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
12 DECEMBER 2021
Saint
Paul tells the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord always. In case they miss his message, he says it
again. In telling them to rejoice, he
does not pretend that everything is in perfect order. He writes from his prison cell in Rome, where
he is awaiting execution for the crime of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As much as he loves the Church of Philippi,
he knows that they are dealing with difficult issues. Some had come into the community to inform
the Philippians that they are not worshipping God as well as other communities. He also knows that two of the women in church
leadership are engaged in a public quarrel.
That quarrel has caused painful divisions in the community they had
helped Paul to establish.
In the
midst of these difficulties, Paul insists that they can rejoice, because the
Lord is near. The nearness of the Lord
has the power to bring a peace that surpasses all understanding. It is not the peace imposed by the forces of
imperial Rome. It is a peace too great
for their minds to comprehend. It is a
peace that accomplishes more than they could imagine.
In the
desert, John the Baptist also announces that the Lord is near. He tells those who have been waiting for the
promised Messiah to prepare by repenting and changing their lives. Three different groups ask him for specific
examples of what they should do. He
tells the crowds that they should share one of their cloaks with someone who
has none. He tells the tax collectors not
to collect more than what the Romans prescribed. He tells the soldiers to avoid extortion,
falsely accusing anyone, and complaining about their wages.
These three
groups are open to hearing the Baptist’s call to conversion, because all three
groups recognize their weaknesses. The
religious authorities consider the crowds to be ignorant and lax. They criticize the tax collectors, because their
corrupt system allows them to keep for themselves more than the Romans
demand. They denounce soldiers as agents
of Roman control who can take advantage of their power. The Baptist invites us to recognize our
weaknesses as we prepare to celebrate the first coming of the Lord at
Christmas. With the crowds, we can
resist the temptation to regard Christmas as an excuse for accumulating more
stuff and give away what we do not need to the poor. With the tax collectors, we can resist the
temptation of getting ahead of our neighbors by cheating or putting our needs
first. With the soldiers, we can resist the
temptation to use whatever power we have to control or dominate other people.
Like Saint
Paul and the Philippians, we live in a world that is far from perfect. The scars of war, racism, hatred, and greed
surround us. There is no need to prove
the existence of Original Sin. It is all
around us. We continue to quarrel about
our political divisions and bring those divisions into our parish and school
community. We are tempted to reinforce
our own views instead of honestly seeking what is true from objective
sources. We are too intolerant of those
with whom we disagree.
For that
reason, we must remember that the Lord is in our midst. We too can rejoice. When the Baptist immersed repentant sinners
in the waters of the Jordan, they emerged the same people, cleansed of their
sins. Jesus baptizes us with the Holy
Spirit and fire. After being buried, he
was transformed by the fire of the resurrection. We who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
can trust that same transformation and embrace a peace that the world cannot
give. Please come to the Advent Penance
Service on Tuesday. Allow the fire of
the Lord’s mercy to burn away whatever separates us from him and one another. Then we can more confidently believe that the
Lord is near, and that we can rejoice in the Lord always as we prepare to
celebrate the Lord’s first coming at Christmas.
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