Sunday Gospel Reflection
Third Sunday of Advent
John 1: 6-8, 19-28
John the Baptist’s Testimony
Josie Gonzalez
He was not the light, but came to testify to the light…
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’.” (Jn 1: 8, 23)
Every day that we open our eyes is a great blessing because human life is a precious gift. Each new day is a day of praise and thanksgiving to the Most High who gave us life. And life in this physical world is anchored on the Law of the Lord—to love Him with all our heart and mind and soul and strength.
To love Him with the totality of self is to welcome each new day by having a beautiful personal encounter and relationship with the Lord with a listening heart, especially during this season of Advent.
Advent, a season preparing us for that one great momentous event in the whole of Christendom, the birth of our Saviour. A season of “waiting” — “waiting” in hope, “waiting” for Christ Jesus and finding Him in our everyday life by loving, sharing with and giving to our Lord Jesus, as we see Him in others especially in the marginalized sector of our society, and taking care of nature and the environment and all His magnificent creation. To paraphrase Mother Teresa’s famous quote, genuine love is giving ‘til it hurts.
Yes, the season of Advent is giving and giving ‘til it hurts. “Waiting” with a purpose is sharing and giving our all as we prepare for eternal bliss in His kingdom.
Today’s Gospel tells us that St. John the Baptist, who
came ahead of our Lord Jesus Christ, bore witness to Christ as a voice crying in the wilderness to “make straight the way of the Lord.” v 23
Jesus, is the light that has come. Let us make His paths straight. This means that we have to have a positive impact on everyone and everything around us by mirroring Jesus’ righteousness. And how do we show that? How do we do that?
Making straight the path of the Lord is a call to repentance, as St. John the Baptist, one of the greatest prophets, reminds us. Making straight the path of the Lord is a call to total obedience to God, and our love for God is best expressed in deeds and not in words. Faith in our beloved Saviour without action is dead. We have to work on our faith by removing all obstructions of deceit, corruption, addiction, pride, ill will, violence and all forms of sinfulness.
Kaya ba natin talikuran ang mga ito? Nakahanda ba tayong tugunan ang ating misyon na luwalhatiin at purihin ang Panginoon? Na maging totoong tagasunod ni Kristo na kalugod-lugod sa kanya bilang mabuting ehemplo sa kapwa sa pagsasabuhay natin ng pananampalataya, kabutihan at mga aral ng Panginoon?
Let us focus on the mission that the Lord wants us to do because His kingdom is our final destiny. Here and now, let us make His path straight—share the good news of salvation, do good to those around us, serve our neighbors out of love. Ito ang ibig sabihin ng malalim na pananalig o pananampalataya sa Mahal na Panginoon.
Gaano kalalim ang ating pananampalataya? Katulad ba tayo ni Job na hindi sinuko ang kanya pagmamahal sa Diyos o ng dalawang bulag na sumunod sa Diyos sa kabila ng kanilang kapansanan? Tayo ba ang paralitiko at mga kaibigang tumulong sa kanya para makalapit kay Hesus?
St. Augustine said “my heart is restless until it rests in God”. Let us ask the Lord for the grace of a listening heart to ready ourselves for His invitation to “go home”.
A blessed Sunday and happy Advent sharing!
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Artwork:
St. John the Baptist Preaching
by Mattia Preti (Il Cavaliere Calabrese)
ca. 1665
Oil on Canvas
85 1/2 x 67 (217.2 x 170.2 cm)
Legion of Honor, San Francisco, USA
