What then should we do? December 17

Third Sunday of Advent

“The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you.” Zephaniah 3:17

Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

Piety

Let us pray: Come back. Lord, you have been gone too long. In your absence, we have gotten into some bad habits. We have not listened to your prophets. We have ignored your laws. But, if you come back, we will listen to you. We promise. We’ll listen this time. We will give you reason to rejoice in our love for you and in our actions to your children. Amen.

Study

John the Baptist fulfilled the expected role of the returning Elijah. People sought out what he had to say. Everybody turns to him. They sense that he is special because they know the Elijah story and have been waiting for centuries for the Messiah to return to their midst – waiting so long that they mistake John for Jesus.

John preaches out in the desert like Elijah did. He wears the same clothes. They expect that the Messiah is coming. So everybody in town seeks out John and his advent advice. They ask John, “WSWD?” “What should we do?”

“Stop looking out for number one.” In a nutshell, John asks us to treat each other with kindness and respect. Start looking out for others. Share your coat. Stop stealing their money. John sees in each person what each person sees in their own heart subconsciously…the times when they have not been as generous as expected.

John asks us to change this Advent. He tells us that we can do it ourselves or it will be done to us, for us. Just as the wheat is separated from the chaff by the winnowing fan, so the good will be separated from the evil by the purifying and refining fire of the Messiah. John uses water to cleanse. Jesus will bring about baptism of fire and the Holy Spirit will be the sign of the perpetual presence of God among us.

Action

Give more to the needy. Give Fair Trade gifts like the coffee and chocolate available after Mass today at St. Mary of Sorrows or on various web sites like www.larrysbeans.com.