Third Sunday of Advent(Click here for readings)
A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.
Third Week of Advent. Christmas is right around the corner! After two weeks of Advent, are you keeping watch? (That was the first week.) Are you preparing? (That was the second week.) Now, are you rejoicing?
Living Advent is living like John the Baptist. He is the role model for our Advent:
Keeping watch - "He is coming";
Preparing - "I am not Him...I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord;"
Rejoicing - "Behold, the lamb of God... Testify to the light."
Light of the world. There is story I recently read. It's a good story, even if it's a made-up story.
Once upon a time, on a dark and stormy night, a father awakened from his sleep and noticed the lights had gone out. He thought of his small son alone in his bedroom. He took a flashlight and rushed upstairs to check on his boy. It turns out the boy was hiding beneath his covers. He was scared. The light in the closet had gone out suddenly, and now he was surrounded by total darkness. Every lightening bolt was like a jolt to his heart. At the sound of thunder he sunk deeper beneath his covers. So when he saw the door open to his room, he immediately shouted out, "Who's there? Who's in my room?"
The dad's first thought was to shine light on his son's face. But then he thought that would frighten him even more, so he turned the light on his own face. When the boy saw his dad's face, he said, "Oh Dad. It's you!" The father said, "Everything will be just fine. Go back to sleep."
The boy did.
What this child experienced is what we are about to experience on the world stage. God has walked into our lives and has shed light on His face. This is the meaning of the Incarnation, the day the Lord showed his face on his children. And it happened in total darkness.
Advent is that time of year to change things up; to bring a glimmer of light - of hope - to the world. We are John the Baptist! We are Elijah. We are not the light, but we can bring a glimmer of light to the world. How? By sharing what the Lord has done for us.
We all know how miserable life can seem and how lonely we can get. Do not quench the Spirit! (cf. 1Thes 5:19). Human sadness and misery is to be expected, especially if we keep the Lord out of our world and lives.
Bring glad tidings to the poor. Heal the brokenhearted. Release sinners from their sins. Announce the joy of God's presence! (cf. Is 61:1)
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord! (Lk 1:46)
We are not called to be pessimists. We are not even called to be optimists. We are called to be evangelists!
This Christmas, the greatest gift you could ever give is the gift of Christ wrapped inside of you. This is the gift that Christ gave to us when he took on human form.
Make Christ "present."
There are evangelists all around us telling and selling us what they believe leads to life - consumerism, sex, power, money, etc. We need to be evangelizing, too. We need to tell people what they want is not more stuff. What they want, in fact, is a person -- the person of Jesus Christ. And what God wants, in fact, is us. He has proven it by laying his life down for us.
ReplyDeleteWe also need to be prepared when we evangelize. People are going to ask us what we get out of it (all the false evangelizers are telling us what we get out of their false gods). We need to have an answer. We need to be able to articulate clearly and with passion the difference that Jesus Christ has made in our lives. We have so much opportunity all around us to illuminate the darkness. Let's get out there and shine!