3rd Sunday of Advent
My dear parishioners,
God is Good!!! All the time!!! And all the time!!! God is Good!!!
Zephaniah’s main message is about the day of the Lord. His opening oracles describe this day as one of cleansing. God must thoroughly sweep creation clean because the people of the world refuse to serve heaven. Through the prophet Zechariah, God announces it will take a completely fresh start to bring about the ideal bond between God and the people of this world. Perhaps the most famous lines related to this theme can be found in Zeph 1:15-17. These verses were the inspiration for the traditional Latin hymn Dies Irae. But in this reading, the prophet describes the day of the Lord as a day of joy. Humble service to God has made all the difference.
Once the people learn to value the things of God, they will be far stronger than before. They will no longer be vulnerable to the influence of others who sought only to exploit them rather than nourish them. They will have no fear of injury or harm. They will no longer need the incentive of divine judgment to awaken them to the truth.
The reading begins with the prophet inviting Jerusalem/Zion to sing a song of joy. With its prideful ways now in the past, the great city can at last enjoy the blessings God always held in store for it. Human pride was the obstacle to that joy. But David’s royal city now serves its true King, the Lord God. In the final verses of the reading, God sings a joyful song. God and Jerusalem rejoice together because at the people of Israel have finally become a model of faith for all others to follow.
Because of John’s preaching and his way of life, there were many who no doubt thought he was the Messiah to come. All the Gospels have John vigorously denying any messianic claim. His role is to prepare the way and point to one mightier than he who is coming and who will be the Messiah. Lk has gone to great effort to make sure that the contrast between John the Baptist and Jesus is strong and clear. He did this in the annunciation stories and in the birth stories. John the Baptist is in all ways surpassed by Jesus.
While John makes it clear that he is not the Messiah and that his role is only to prepare the way, he does not indicate that he knows who the real Messiah might be. He knows that the Messiah will be greater than he is and that he will exercise a Baptism that is different from what John administered. The Messiah’s Baptism will be with the Holy Spirit and fire. This is probably a reference to the Pentecost experience of Acts 2.
Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Aloysius