JOHN’S MESSAGE

III SUNDAY OF ADVENT - Luke 3:10-18

This Sunday’s gospel presents the teaching of John the Baptist. In the desert, his life was hard and difficult. Anyway, it is always difficult to survive in the desert, even though people like the Bedouin live a nomadic life in the desert. The people of Israel had made that experience and the life in the desert always remained as a kind of ideal: a life in which people entrust themselves to the Lord and allow him to be the shepherd that guides and protects them. In spite of appearing like a crazy person, people recognised in John a person touched by God and moved by his Spirit and they went to him to hear his message and to accept his advice. When people are weighed down by a life full of hardships, they are ready to go anywhere looking for relief. When they feel lost, they look for the meaning and purpose of their lives and they are ready to make sacrifices in order to find it. And so they crossed the desert and went down to the Jordan River so that they could receive guidance from John.

Luke presents three groups of people going to John: the people in general, the tax collectors and the soldiers; and all of them asked the same question: "What should we do?" That is the same question that people go on asking: What should we do to get out of this mess which we are in? The question implies that we are responsible for our own lives and that the outcome depends on what we do.  If we dream of a different world and want it to be a world of justice and peace, then we must ask: What should we do? However, the question is only meaningful if we are ready to do what needs to be done. In his answer to the question, John gave an indication of what is essential, presenting three attitudes that we must put into practice: 

1. Share what we have with the neediest. We must put an end to our selfishness, accepting that we are responsible for the fate of the others. We must pay attention to the most vulnerable so that they do not feel abandoned and ignored in their suffering.
2. Practice justice in the demands we make on others. We must put an end to the exploitation of others so that we enrich ourselves and consider us superior to all the others. The world belongs to all and is not my private property.
3. Practice non-violence, never using authority to oppress others, but putting ourselves at the service of peace. We must put an end to oppression on the ones who depend on us and we must stop behaving as if we are the lords who must always be obeyed.

John's advice is simple and workable. Although it must be enacted by each individual, this adice has a communitarian and social dimension. And if we want to build a fair and peaceful society, we must act upon this advice and change it into policies in our society. 

John did not work any miracles that might attract the crowds, but they were ready to endure the hardships of the desert just to listen to his word - a simple, sincere and direct word, full of truth, which touched the hearts of people. John’s word is a word that confronts and judges us, leading us to face our actions and our motives for those actions. 

John was an honourable, sincere and honest man, who was well aware of his mission and of the limits of that mission. And so he plainly spoke the truth about himself:

“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”. This Someone - the Christ- will baptise us with the Holy Spirit, thus making us children of God.

JOHN, THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS

II SUNDAY OF ADVENT - Luke 3:1-6

In order to write his gospel, Luke searched carefully (Lk 1:3), so that he would transmit the truth and not some fairy tales. For us to understand that he is narrating something that truly happened, he gives us the narratives historical setting. Presenting John the Baptist and his prophetic ministry, he tells us that John started his preaching “in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign” (Lk 3:1). Tiberius was the Roman emperor, as his rule was exercised in Judea by the governor Pontius Pilate, while Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, was the tetrarch of Galilee, and his half-brother Philip “tetrarch of the lands of Ituraea and Trachonitis”. Luke gives us also the names of the religious authorities: Annas and Caiaphas. They would play a big role in Jesus’ passion and death. With this kind of introduction to the ministry of John, which immediately preceded the ministry of Jesus, Luke makes it clear that he is not giving us myths, but historical facts. If we read the Bible attentively, we can easily discover that history has played a major role in God’s revelation, since he always presented himself as the one who is always present and always acts in history. Our faith has an essential historical dimension because our God is present and active in human history and this reaches its summit in the incarnation.

After the historical introduction, Luke presents John the Baptist, as the voice from the wilderness, which cries out as a lonely voice that finally reaches the ears and hearts of many. John is the prophet of the desert, whose life was a protest against the status quo of the religious institution and the religious life in Judea. His message was a call to repentance for all those who were ready to listen. At the same time, his words were full of hope, because he announced that the coming of the Lord was at hand.

John’s message is repeated today. It comes as a protest and a denunciation, being thus a call to repentance: “Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.” If we do so, then “all mankind shall see the salvation of God.”

MAKE MORE AND MORE PROGRESS, ACCORDING TO GOD’S WILL

I SUNDAY OF ADVENT - Luke 21:25-28,34-36

Advent is always a time full of hope in which we look forward together with Mary to the coming of Jesus. This Sunday's readings present us with some basic attitudes which we should cultivate, especially during this Advent time.

In the Gospel, Jesus advises us to pay attention to what is happening about us. It is so easy to lead a distracted life, not paying attention to the signs that appear along the way, mainly the danger signs. We live as if everything is running smoothly. However, Jesus gives us a strong warning: we will pass through widespread situations of crisis, uncertainty and anguish that may lead us into despair, causing us to do acts of true madness. The world will feel threatened and people will be at a loss on how to deal with such menace, in such a way that there will be “men dying of fear”. In fact, humanity has faced catastrophe so many times that it got used to it until the day it will reach its climax. However, Jesus’ warning is not in order to instil fear, but in order to strengthen us and fill us with hope.

In the first reading, Jeremiah announces that there will be a time of “honesty and integrity in the land”. There will be a time for salvation when we “shall dwell in confidence” and peace. And city we will live in will be called “The Lord is our righteousness” (Jer 33:14-16). Such a time will be brought in by the Messiah, who will come to establish God’s Kingdom.

And Jesus speaks of the Son of Man “coming in a cloud with power and great glory” to establish his kingdom, a kingdom of justice and peace. He will come to put under his feet all the powers of evil. He will come as judge and Saviour. That will be a time of liberation, in which we will be filled with joy and pride because God our Father will grant us the inheritance promised to us as his children. Indeed, we can “stand erect” and hold our “heads high”, and we will join all the saints singing God’s praises.

Finally, Jesus advises us to “stay awake, praying at all times”. We will go through difficult times and on our own only we will not have “the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.” It is so easy to go astray and so we must be on the watch, not allowing our hearts to “be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life”. We may fall into a “trap”, accepting false values as the true ones and taking this passing world for the eternal.

In the second reading, Paul advises us to grow in holiness: “Finally, brothers, we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus to make more and more progress in the kind of life that you are meant to live: the life that God wants” (1 Tes 4:1). May the Lord grant us his grace, so that we grow more and more in love.

TO HIM BE GLORY AND POWER FOREVER AND EVER

XXXIV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: CHRIST THE KING - John 18:33-37

We end the liturgical year with the celebration of the solemnity of Christ the King, in which we proclaim him as King of the Universe. And we may ask ourselves what does that mean? Throughout history, the experience of being under a king has not been always a happy experience. What kind of a king is Jesus? Most of the times, we associate kingship with dominion and oppression. Kings impose themselves impose themselves on people and are jealous of their authority and position. That’s why Jesus warned his disciples not to be like the rulers of the earth: “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you” (Mk 10:42-43). And proposing himself as the model for their leadership, Jesus told them: “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45). In fact, Jesus never showed interest in political power and, when people tried to make him a king, he went into hiding. He did not come to be an earthly king and to impose himself on people, if necessary by force, as it had been the case with King Herod and with Emperor Augustus. Jesus’ kingship is of a completely different order and he makes it very clear to Pilate when he tells him: “My kingdom is not of this world” (Jn 18:36). And he explains it to the governor. He came into Jerusalem on a donkey, like the poor peasants. And he has no army to fight for him. He is completely at the mercy of those who have power. Nobody needs to be afraid of him, because he does not constitute a threat to anybody. Indeed, looking at history and at the presence of Christ in history, we may ask ourselves why is he perceived as a threat for the propagators of ideologies and the holders of power. Why so many of his disciples are being ostracised and persecuted? Christians have never been a threat to the State. 

To Pilate, Jesus explained his kingship: he came to be king of those who search for the truth and are only content with the truth.  In a similar manner, he had told the Jews: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn 8:31-32). Freedom, justice and peace will be achieved only if we become pursuers of the truth.

It is easy to see that Pilate did not care about the truth,  as he did not wait for Jesus’ answer to his question on the truth and as he was ready to condemn Jesus on trumped-up charges. Ignoring and despising the truth, he was ready to commit an injustice condemning the guiltless and blameless Christ.

Jesus presented himself as king, only during his trial, when there was no possibility of being misunderstood. On top of his cross, they wrote: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” (Jn 19:19), thus presenting the official reason for his condemnation. Such statement presents on one side Jesus’ claim that he is king and on the other side the false accusation that he is the king of the Jews.

The first reading taken from the book of Daniel and the second reading taken from the book of revelation helps us to understand the claim that Jesus is King of the Universe. He is that human being - the Son of man - on whom it “was conferred sovereignty, glory and kingship, and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants” (Dan 7:14) and he is “the First-Born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev 1:5). He is human and divine and in him, humanity will find salvation, making of “us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father; to him, then, be glory and power forever and ever. Amen” (Rev 1:6).

COME, LORD JESUS!

XXXIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 13:24-32

Will the universe come to an end? If so, then when and how will it happen? To the first question, even scientists give an affirmative answer. As for the date and the manner of that event, the imagination goes wild. On that, Jesus was very clear to his disciples: “As for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father” (Mk 13:32). So we should not waste our time involving ourselves in guessing possible dates for the end of the world. Those who do that end up as a laughing stock.

Jesus said that “the powers in the heavens will be shaken” and there will be “a time of anguish” (Dan 12:1) or a time of “tribulation” (Mk 13:24). However, the stress is put on the coming of the Son of Man (that is Jesus Christ), who will come full of power and glory to gather his people and deliver them. For the faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, the end of the world will not be a moment of horror and terror, but a great time of joy, as they become partakers of the glorious victory of Christ. With his coming, Jesus Christ will bring in the New World, a new creation, where there will be no suffering and no tears, but only the joyous cries of victory, because the powers of oppression and death have disappeared and God will reign supreme, being “all in all” (1 Co 15:28).

Jesus advises us to pay attention to the signs of the Lord’s proximity so that we are prepared to answer his call and to welcome his coming. If he surprises us and finds us unprepared, we will be left to our own fate, far from him with whom there are life and salvation.

Christians look forward to that time with eagerness, which is well expressed in a very simple prayer at the end to the book of Revelation: “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20).

With the Psalmist, we pray: “Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you” (Ps 16:1)

THE LORD THWARTS THE PATH OF THE WICKED

XXXII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 12:38-44

In this Sunday’s liturgy, the widows come to the forefront. In the first reading, we hear about the widow who lived in the Phoenician city of Sarepta. She had a son, she was poor to the point of starving and she was a foreigner, living in Sarepta near Sidon. In spite of being a pagan, she welcomed Elijah and shared with him the last food she had, trusting in God’s promise conveyed to her by the prophet who had run away for his own safety from the unfaithful people of Israel. Jesus would use the example of the widow of Sarepta as an indictment against those who refused to believe him. The outsiders (the pagans) proved to be more willing to listen to the message of salvation than the members of the people of God. This remains as a warning to us. We should not be overconfident, taking God for granted and thinking that belonging to the Christian Church is enough guarantee of salvation.

In the Gospel, we are presented with another widow, who, in spite was extremely poor, offered to God everything she had, thus putting herself totally in God’s hands. Humanly speaking, her attitude looks like foolishness. How could she give the little she had, without thinking about the day of tomorrow? The poor don’t think about tomorrow, leaving that to God. They are like the birds who have no stores to gather their food and live day by day, getting whatever they can find (Mt 6:26). They put their lives in the hands of God and entrust themselves to him. The widow knew how precarious her life was and in that precariousness, she knew that her life depended on God’s mercy and on the people’s compassion. Giving all she had, she gave herself, making a profession of faith in God’s care and love. That’s why Jesus praised her and presented her as an example that brings out the vain show-off of the rich who, although giving a lot, don’t feel at all the pinch of their offering. Offering what they don’t need, they don’t offer themselves.

The passage of the widow’s offering comes immediately after Jesus’ denunciation of the Scribes. They were experts of the Scriptures and doctors of the Law, thus having a big influence on the people and being highly respected. They were people full of themselves, proud and arrogant, living on the people and exploiting the widows pretending to console them. The Scribes put on a mask of holiness, demanding to be recognised as masters. Because of that, “the more severe will be the sentence they receive” (Mk 12:40).

“It is the Lord who loves the just,

the Lord, who protects the stranger.

The Lord upholds the widow and orphan

but thwarts the path of the wicked.” (Ps 146:8-9).

LOVE IS THE FULFILMENT OF THE LAW

XXXI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 12:28-34

Life, happiness and prosperity is something everybody dreams about and tries hard to achieve. All try to find a way out of suffering and pain and would like to find a remedy for hardships and death. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses put forward the correct approach in order to achieve a meaningful life: “If you fear the Lord your God all the days of your life and if you keep all his laws and commandments which I lay on you” (Dt 6:2), then you will find life. “Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom” (Job 28:28). “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Pro 1:8). This fear of the Lord does not mean the trembling of the slave, but the respect and the obedience of the children, who fear to offend and despise their parents’ love. First of all, we need to put God in the centre of our lives and to recognise him as the only source of being. God must be the point of reference for our life and our behaviour. The words that express this belief have reverberated throughout the ages, being repeated in the Jewish daily prayers in the morning and in the evening:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart”.

The Jews call this confession of faith Shema, from the first word: Hear! We must profess that YHWH alone is God and we must dedicate ourselves to him, loving him with all our being, hearts and souls.

The scholars of the Holy Scriptures, who dedicated themselves mainly to the study of the Law of Moses, several times, tried to catch Jesus off guard. And some of the more sincere ones wanted to verify if he knew the basics and if his message was in accordance with the Law. Hence the question, "What is the first of all the commandments?" That is, what are the essential requirements for moral behaviour that is worthy of God and in accordance with his will? Jesus proclaims the Shema and then clearly states that the love of God implies loving our neighbours, quoting Lev 19:18: “you shall love your neighbour as yourself”.

“God is love” (1 Jn 4:8) and he has created us in his image and likeness; hence we cannot live without love. It is love, which leads to the total surrender of ourselves, that makes us truly human. From God we receive our being, acting and loving and we cannot be a true image of God without love; we must love God and our neighbour, that is all those we meet and all those we must come close to. Loving God and loving others is the same love. So much so that Jesus will acknowledge as done to him all the deeds of love we do to others and will regard the contempt, violence, oppression and injustice done to others as being done to him. In the end, we will be judged solely by the commandment of love. This love is not a passion that leads to transient self-satisfaction, but it is a commitment that leads to doing everything for the good of others. The love of God demands the love of our neighbour, therefore having social and political implications. St. Paul wrote: 

"Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."(Rom 13:8-10).