Manifesting God’s Plan in our Lives

 Third Sunday of Advent (Cycle C): December 12, 2021

Readings:  Zephaniah 3:14-18a; Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18

To listen to my video reflections please click here

As we delve deeper into the Advent Season, we begin to realise the plentiful blessings this particular season bring to us. Moreover, it gives us a rare opportunity to see God’s plan of salvation with the eyes of faith, hope and love.  The season also brings to our mind the beautiful memories of Christmas. Perhaps, we can think about three-fold task this Christmas gives us prominently, namely, refreshing memories of Christmas, nurturing our faith in God’s presence among us today in sacraments and liturgical life of the church and finally, to nurture within us a faith in the glorious Second Coming of our Lord.

1. Reclaiming the season of Advent with hope

Perhaps our carefree life has been smeared by the ravages of global health crises. In the midst of hopelessness, anxiety and fear, we lost good amount of time and celebrations of our faith. It’s a high time for us to reclaim the Season of Advent and welcome its message of hope and expectation. If we are to dare to hope and brace even the fears of new Corona variant Omicron, certainly we would reap abundant lessons and graces to overcome any storm or tribulation. Pope Benedict XVI, in his encyclical “saved by hope” put it beautifully: “Man’s great, true hope which holds firm in spite of all disappointments can only be God - God who has loved us and who continues to love us ‘to the end,’ until all is accomplished.”

The Gospel reading of today tells us what kind of hope John the Baptist could instil among his country men and women.  The Evangelist St Luke tells us: “A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people, who were beginning to think that John might be the Christ” (Luke 3:13). In a situation of hopelessness and weariness, the Baptiser John had risen to be a pillar of great source of inspiration and encouragement. People felt in John, Yahweh’s presence amidst them. They could rejoice, even in the midst of foreign rule and internal religious strife and corruption. John the Baptist had the capacity to turn their disappointments into encouragement, sinfulness into conversion, grudge into forgiveness, evil into repentance. In other words, he was able to make their lives eventful, turning events and incidents of their life both joyful and sorrowful, uplifting and depressing into meaningful and providential in the eyes of God. He showed them the way that God is still at work in our world and everything has meaning in Him who loved us first. In other words, he teaches us a lesson that our Christian living is not so much about getting out of our mess in order to find God, but more about bringing God into our mess.

2. Advent as reliving a new relationship with God

God’s ways are wondrous, mysterious and transcendental.  We see this as we read the infancy narratives surrounding the birth of Jesus. In fact, God’s incredible way of being can be seen in the life of Virgin Mary. As we celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in this week, we realised how God makes everything possible with a reason. Because, in God, we see mercy and faithfulness, justice and peace (Psalm 84:11) prevails for eternity. God prepared a way to make a young woman, the mother of God. He infused within her energy, power and grace where salvation can be realised and a simple young girl could be chosen to fulfils this task. In other words, God chooses a human person to redeem the humanity. 

What is in play here is faith that is in relationship with God who continues to reveal who God is for us. Moreover, God enters into the history of humanity through a simple relationship built on trust, confidence and love. God reveals to us through mystery which is unknowable shrouded with darkness and unclarity. Perhaps a lot is unknown to us the God’s ways and dealings, yet through those small gestures and our own limited understanding God continues to build relationship with us. Virgin Mary experienced this splendidly as she was revealed her future role as mother of our God in an obscure setting but with a clear vision of God. Mary did not receive the angel’s greeting in a synagogue or temple, during her prayer schedule or while doing a religious ritual service but while she was engaged in the daily chores of her life. God establishes a relationship with us in our ordinary circumstances and busyness of our life. In this way God reveals Himself His nature of friendship and relationship.

3. Advent is a time to live in peace and harmony

“What must we do?” is the question people asked John the Baptist when he began to preach to them. His preaching contained words of encouragement which would bring them back to God. He called them for metanoia, repentance, change of mind which means an organic change in their life style. It is an reorientation of one’s life of sin into the sovereignty of God. It contained two fold changes: turning away from sin and turning towards God. Such a change involved a radical change. It was not an attitude of adjustment. Our internal attitude must manifest in concrete external actions. Words without concrete actions mean nothing.  The Baptizer called to mend our relationship with God drastically in order to build a robust relationship with God which would translate one’s faith into works of charity, honesty and justice. For John the Baptist, God was the center of his ministry of repentance. And it had to be translated vividly through one’s actions.

Perhaps, Advent should be a time for us to check our relationship with God. Do I lock myself with the worries and woes of this world, anger and frustration, trauma and temptations, adversities and divisions, grief and gossiping? We must examine our conscience by asking the same question the Jews asked the prophet in the wilderness, “what should we do?” Our change of conscience must come forth not from fear of God’s wrath (Luke 3:7-9) but from a joyful sense of the closeness of our loving and saving God. May this Gaudete/ rejoicing Sunday help us to follow what we believe.

Questions for Reflections

1. How can I allow God to enter into my life to make His plans as my own?

2. Advent is not a time for mourning but for rejoicing. Am I a person of joy and ready to rejoice at the success of others?

3. As I’m in the middle of the Advent Season, how much have I started to allow God to enter into my life and born again with love, warmth, friendship, concern, care, thoughtfulness and generosity?

Prayer

Gracious and loving Lord, make me a person of peace. Let me always rejoice in You. May my life be a symbol of tolerance and patience. By your grace, may my life reflect that You are within me and with me. Let no worry hinder me from being joyful. Let all my prayers, thanksgivings, supplications always directed towards you. So that peace of You may flow in my words, actions and intentions.  

O Wisdom,

Lord and Ruler

Root of Jesse

Key of David

Rising Son

King of the Nations

Emmanuel Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.

- Olvin Veigas, SJ

09 December 2021