Just a word before we go...Third Sunday of Advent ... December 12, 2021
This weekend we hear the words of John the Baptist, who when asked by those in his company what they are to do, enjoins the soldiers not to use their weapons or their authority to terrorize the people; he tells the tax collectors not to cheat the public, but to be honest and fair. The word John preaches is focused on outward deeds; it seems anyone who asked him “What shall I do?” is directed not to accomplish great feats, but to change their behavior. John’s was a preaching of repentance, a turning away from previous actions.
Jesus comes along with a decidedly different way of bringing people to God. Jesus’ focus is on the human heart which brings a deeper dimension to the mere changing of behavior, that of the reason for the change. For Jesus, repentance is seeing differently, not merely acting differently. Jesus concentrates on the intangibles of mercy, compassion, and justice to create a change of heart, a metanoia, if you will, one which provides the impetus for and the grounding of, the new way of seeing, and of living.
In addition to this being the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, we also are celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Morenita, patron of the Americas. We all can recall the story of Juan Diego and his bishop, who refused to believe that La Morenita had appeared to Diego several times, requesting that a church be built on the site of what had been an Aztec temple. When Diego revealed the December roses in his cloak to the bishop, along with the imprint of La Morenita on the cloak, the heart of that bishop was changed. He saw differently and therefore behaved differently, building the basilica that remains today.
St. Paul tells us to rejoice today and always, and promises the peace of Christ to us when we present our requests to God with thanksgiving. One can imagine that Juan Diego, along with his bishop, rejoiced upon the realization of their miracle. So too, with us.
Our Advent readings tell us that if we experience God’s love as deeply as we can, the rest will follow. God will renew us in God’s love; no one is to be left out of that renewal.
Our Advent readings also ask us what we must do to be renewed, to be re-awakened by God’s love. How must our hearts change to be able to perceive the reality that God is with us, as our grounding and our ultimate destiny? We know that God finds a way to turn wounds into healing, and dirges into joyous song. The way of the Lord is the way of renewal, the way of hope and promise and grace.
How can we tap into that way? Perhaps if we take St. Paul’s words to heart, and present our requests to the Lord, with thanksgiving, the promised peace will fill our hearts and we will begin to see differently, and that will make all the difference.
