Gaudete Sunday [3rd Sunday of Advent 2011]
John 1.6-8, 19-28
6A man named John was sent from God. 7He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites [to him] to ask him, “Who are you?” 20he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted “I am not the Messiah.”21So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?” 23He said: “I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert, “Make straight the way of the Lord,”’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” 24Some Pharisees were also sent. 25They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?” 26John answered them, “I baptize with water;* but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, 27the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” 28This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,* where John was baptizing.
Reflection
“I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert, “Make straight the way of the Lord,”’ ~ John the Baptist
“Who are you?” John the Baptizer was asked the question. He knew the answer for he had been living it. From childhood he had been raised to the awareness that he was to be the prophet of the Most High, destined to go before the Lord to prepare his way. So he was able to respond clearly: He was the voice exhorting people to make straight in the desert or wilderness the way of the Lord, to cleanse their hearts.
“Who are you?” This is a good question to ask ourselves, especially in this season of Advent, a time of introspection and reflection on our own readiness to encounter the Lord and welcome him into our hearts.
In reply, one might identify himself as a Christian, meaning a follower of Christ. Then this begs the other question, the one Jesus asked of his disciples: “Who do you say I am?”
In life’s wilderness, fraught with difficulty and confusion, are we truly willing and determined to maintain the integrity of that identity that we claim: that of a disciple of the Christ?
A true disciple is one who is docile, eager to be taught and to learn, and willing to obey. An authentic disciple has the conviction to live the Christian life, through temptations pervasive in our culture, such as avarice, one-upmanship, and disrespect and exploitation of the other.
When we discover true Christianity in ourselves, we share the joy in the Magnificat, Mary’s prayer, where the prophet speaks of the same inner joy of fulfillment, of experiencing oneness with the Lord God: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.”
Deacon Ricardo I. Santiago
Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica – Ottawa
Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarroabel.blogspot.com/).
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