THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT (C)
12th December 2021

Dear Parishioner

The readings of today are focussed on the theme of joy and the call to be joyful. In the First Reading (Zephaniah 3:14-18), the prophet convokes us to "Shout for joy, daughter of Zion, Israel, shout aloud! Rejoice; exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! … The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst; you have no more evil to fear." What else can give us greater joy than the very thought of God being present in our midst; and the word Emmanuel assures His abiding presence amongst us. John the Baptist, when in his mother's womb recognised this abiding presence of God-with-us when he leapt for joy at the very presence of the unborn Holy Child Jesus. John the Baptist establishes the fact that God in Jesus is the true fount and source of our joy! Therefore our preparation should go in par with John the Baptist because he, himself was prepared from time immemorial to be the forerunner of Jesus Christ and to be the one to point Him out to us; "behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world". We may not be forerunners like Baptist but we are called to be proclaimers, to go out and spell out the good news to others through our lives. Therefore, the necessity and the urgency of our preparation to receive Jesus Christ.

This Sunday's Gospel continues last week's focus on John the Baptist and his role in preparing the way for Christ. If we were to read Luke's Gospel continuously, we would learn about John the Baptist challenging the crowds who came to him and calling upon them to show evidence of their repentance. Repentance, rather, must be observable in one's actions. Here, Luke is continuing to set up two important themes of his Gospel message: the Christian faith is expressed in one's actions, and the call to salvation is extended to everyone, Jews and Gentiles. In today's Gospel reading, the crowds ask John the Baptist for specifics. What evidence of repentance is required? John replies by naming concrete actions: crowds should share their food and cloaks; tax collectors should be just; soldiers should act fairly. The concern for justice is a hallmark of Luke's Gospel.

The third Sunday of Advent is called "Gaudete Sunday". "Gaudete" means "Rejoice!" This is the theme expressed by St. Paul in his Letter to the Philippians: "Rejoice in the Lord always!" The word "rejoice" is composed of two words: "re" (again) and "joy". So St. Paul repeated his exhortation: "I shall say it again: rejoice!" We must remember that he wrote this Letter to the Philippians while he was in a dark Roman prison and without any certainty that he can still come out alive. Definitely, there was nothing to rejoice about in that situation. But joy is a virtue and a gift of the Holy Spirit and rightly, because of that St. Paul said: "Rejoice in the Lord always. Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near".

Fr Jijo George

Notices:
Please remember to pray for:

Daily for the sick clergy of our Diocese

The sick and housebound

Those who have recently died

Years Mind:
Sunday: Fr Geoffrey Pye, Fr Eamonn Magrath
Monday: Fr George Carolan, Fr William Evers, Fr Francis Kerrigan
Tuesday: Fr Gerard Kerr
Thursday: Lydia Kalil
Saturday: Jim McEvoy