2023-12-18 03:01:40
Today’s Gospel in audio
Today’s Gospel Reflection
And who are you? The Jews insidiously asked John the Baptist, through priests and Levites. The Jews were struck by the way the Baptist acted and by his preaching that he called for conversion.
Juan begins by denying, telling the four winds who he is not. I am not the Messiah. I am not Elijah. I am not the Prophet. Nor is he the light, but rather a witness of the light.
“I am the voice that cries in the desert: Make straight the way of the Lord.”
When someone asks each of us: Who are you? How do we define ourselves? Maybe we start with our name, our profession, our marital status, what we believe characterizes us…
We will have to ask ourselves if our way of acting from the values of the Gospel, as individuals and as a believing community, also attracts people’s attention today. So much so that, surprised, they question us about who we are. Giving us reason to give reason for our hope. Are we not too locked in our pious practices and our religious traditions, which basically no longer surprise or question anyone?
John defines himself in relation to someone, and that someone is Jesus Christ. I don’t know if to define ourselves, to understand ourselves as Christians, we make some reference to who has to be the center of our faith and our life.
Is our relationship with Jesus something merely anecdotal or a reality that really characterizes and defines us? He is the center of our life and the reason for our joy. Will it truly be seen today that we are men and women of the Gospel in the midst of a society in which many do without God?
Are our communities and our celebrations of faith centers of attraction and a wealth of life and hope?
Today is Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of joy. I don’t know if, given the prevailing situation in our world today, full of wars, hatred and destruction, it is easy for us to open our hearts to joy and sincere joy. But for us, despite all the suffering, joy has to spring from the experience of the love of God that Jesus Christ brings to us. He is the light we need and the Word made flesh that our Father God pronounces.
Each one of us, as believers in Jesus Christ, and all as a believing community, are called today to be the voice of the Word in the midst of our world. A voice that resonates like that of John the Baptist, being a call to conversion and hope. We are not the light, but we are called to be witnesses of it. When a light is turned on it is not to hide it but to put it on the table so that it shines on everyone.
We are in the time of grace that Isaiah announces and that comes true with Jesus Christ. He is the Good News, the Bliss of God for each and every one of us, who binds up our often torn hearts and brings us God’s unconditional forgiveness so that we may be truly free.
In the middle of our celebration, Mary, the woman of the Magnificat, makes her way, the one who makes her life a song of praise and gratitude to God, the almighty who changes the scale of values of our world and chooses the smallest and most disadvantaged. of the earth to be the first in his Kingdom. Mary in a state of good hope is the best image of the Christian in Advent.
The Eucharist that we celebrate is the best and greatest Thanksgiving to God. In it we welcome the living fire of the Spirit, which encourages and comforts us as we wait for the definitive arrival of the Lord, who fulfills his promises. In the Eucharist we find the strength we need so that our joy is true and our joy is overflowing and infects others.
How do you present yourself to those who ask you who you are? Does your person define the relationship you have with Jesus Christ?
Is your experience of faith the central reason for your joy and hope?
Fr. Francis Joseph Collantes Churches OP
Royal Convent of Santo Domingo de Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz)
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