December 11, 2011
Third Sunday of Advent B
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God. Isaiah 61:1-2a
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22
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. John 1:6-8
Piety
Piety is the light of our life. The good we do shines out on our world as the light of Christ. Our love brings the presence of God. “Wherever there is love God is there.” God is the love of our live. Piety is our God life within our souls. Even as John could not claim to be the Christ, piety is our Christ life and our claim on God’s love for us. We need only live our lives for the sake of those that are part of them by giving our time and our energy to what needs doing and our lives become the light of Christ and the love of God has its brilliance in the ordinary becoming extraordinary by our sharing the best of our heart with another. In jour Baptism Christ gives us his life. In the good we do for one another, we give Christ flesh in who we are in the good we do. We do not so much point out Christ as become Christ by living our lives with Christ becoming the need we have of each other. Whatever is done for the least one, Christ takes as done for himself because he identifies with our need. John could only point out Christ. We can become Christ by our piety making it possible to live the life of Christ for each other.
Study
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon us when we bring good tidings to the poor and when we do our best to heal the brokenhearted. We study how to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to prisoners. The good of our lives announce a year of favor from God. Our hearts fill up with joy when we do our best to bring the salvation of the Lord to those who need our goodness. By our staying close to the Lord through study and good companionship the justice and the praise of God springs out of what we do in the name of the Lord.
Action
The good that we do and the good that others do that we are a part of allow us to rejoice always in the Lord. When our tasks seem beyond our strength, we find our work becoming our prayer as the Lord shows his strength in the midst of our weakness. The Lord wraps our action with the mantle of justice as God takes the littleness of our efforts and makes something special out of them for our world. Our work proclaims the greatness of the Lord as we surrender our actions to the great things the Lord can do for us his lowly servants. We are called to carry the cross of Christ for the world we serve. The love of the Lord flowing through us is only limited by the smallness of our vision. Our work reaches the whole world if we offer our lives in the name of Christ for the world we are part of in the extent of our love. The only limit on God’s love flowing out of us is the intention we have in the offering of our lives for others. We have cause to rejoice just like Mary when we realize how wonderful are the things the Lord can do through us if we invite him to use us. Our lives can be his goodness to the world. Our joy is fulfilled in how we offer our lives for each other. Christ invites us to love our world even as he has loved us by giving our life for each other.
