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Gospel commentary for Sunday, December 15, 2024
What should we do?
It is getting closer. Christmas is approaching. We begin the third week of Advent. It is “Gaudete”, “Rejoice” Sunday. The readings repeat it to us, so that we do not forget it. That we are given to sadness, especially in winter.
Last week the Baptist spoke in general of repentance for sins and conversion to a new life. Without giving precise instructions, only in general. Today it is more concrete. Let’s get down to it.
The first reading is a plea for divine mercy. A good reason to rejoice is that God is always merciful. The Lord has reversed your sentence, the prophet Zephaniah tells us. The time in which he lived was not too good. The situation was catastrophic, but, as a true prophet, he knew how to see the light in the midst of the darkness, and he was able to perceive the presence of God in the midst of the people.
A detail that Zephaniah emphasizes is that God’s anger is not against the sinner, but against sin. With people, God only performs works of salvation. He does not punish. For that reason, everyone can rejoice, there is no reason to be afraid. It is the same scheme that the evangelist Luke repeats with the announcement of the angel Gabriel to Mary: “rejoice”, “do not be afraid”, “the Lord is with you”. And, with Mary, our Mother, we can all rejoice.
The first verse of today’s excerpt from St. Paul’s letter was used by my companions and me in our ordination reminder. We wanted to remember just that, that we should always be joyful. I don’t know if we have always succeeded, but what I do know is that knowing that the Lord is near is a good help in life. It is not essential to have many successes in life, or iron health, or many material things. Nor does it mean living free of worries (the Philippians, like Paul, had the same problems as us, if not more). Faith gives the certainty that everything that happens is part of God’s plan and, therefore, everything will end well. As it should be. As God wants it to be. With great peace. In spite of everything.
And to collaborate in this plan, what can we do at this moment? How can we convert ourselves, to give those “fruits” of which the Baptist speaks? And “fruits”, in plural, to demonstrate that the conversion is true. We need to put our heads and hearts in order to be able to react.
The first thing the Baptist asks is to relativize material goods. For God to enter our life, we must make room for him. We know that material things are important, but we must put them in their place.
It seems important to me to recall a quotation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, specifically number 2446: St. John Chrysostom forcefully reminds us: “Not to share one’s goods with the poor is to rob them and take away their life; […] what we possess are not our goods, but theirs” (In Lazarum, Concio 2, 6). It is necessary “to satisfy first of all the demands of justice, so that we do not offer as charitable assistance what is already owed as a matter of justice” (AA 8): “When we give to the poor the things they need, we do not do them personal liberality, but we give back to them what is theirs. Rather than performing an act of charity, what we are doing is fulfilling a duty of justice” (St. Gregory the Great, Regula pastoralis, 3, 21, 45).
This is a good way to review the “sins of omission”. If someone passes in need near me, and I look away, I am not doing the good I should be doing. It can be a good resolution for this Advent, giving out “my robes”, trying to do the good that, on other occasions, I have failed to do.
The second thing the Baptist points to in his exhortation on the banks of the Jordan is how to fulfill our obligations. He does not tell the tax collectors and soldiers to go into the desert, or to adopt the monastic or priestly life. He tells them that they can do their work in another way, with more responsibility, and by being righteous. It is advice that comes in handy also on our Advent journey.
Everything we do, whether at home, in the office, at school or at university, can be done in many ways. The least that can be asked of us is that we do it responsibly – our obligation as individuals – but, as Christians, we can be asked to do more. Things that are not included in the contract, such as smiling, kindness, empathy… In order to be able to receive the coming Child God, being attentive to our brothers and sisters is the best way.
John also warns us of the danger of abuse of power, of taking advantage of a position of strength. It can be a position of superiority caused by the difference in the social scale, in education, it can be because of the hierarchy at work… We do not have swords like soldiers, but sometimes words “kill”. In order for Christ to enter our life, we must be in a way that we can be