Sunday, December 15, 2024

This weekend’s Gospel continues the narrative of John the Baptist's ministry as part of the larger fulfill-ment of God's promise of salvation. While the crowds come to him for baptism, John offers them practi-cal guidance on repentance and what it means to live a transformed life in preparation for the coming of the Lord. He reminds them that repentance is not only merely feeling remorseful, confessing sins, or do-ing some verbal act of contrition, but also an active, outward, and sincere commitment to righteousness, justice, and charity. It involves their love to God in action, their compassionate care to others, and their spiritual growth in the daily life In his message, John the Baptist also challenges the crowds to live with integrity, discipline, and love before receiving some eternal consequences because of their wrong free choices and sinful actions. Though his message contains a warning, it is ultimately filled with hope when John points toward the greater work that Jesus will accomplish. As both Judge and Savior, Jesus will bap-tize His people with the Holy Spirit and give them the power to live righteously. Through Him, divine grace and forgiveness will be made available to all, strengthening all and transforming all to become in-struments of His love in the world. 

My brothers and sisters in Christ, 

In his reflection on Advent, Pope John Paul II used to say, “The liturgy of Advent… helps us to under-stand fully the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not just about commemorating the historical event which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, it is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an ‘advent,’ a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ. To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Ad-vent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously.” Therefore, as John the Baptist calls us to live our faith through tan-gible actions, we must ask ourselves whether we are willing to put our faith into practice in ways that re-flect the values of God's Kingdom. In a world marked by inequality and injustice, we must reflect on whether we are committed to building healthier families, nurturing stronger communities, and transform-ing better society through love, unity, justice, and righteousness. As we await the coming of Jesus, we must consider if we are truly ready to embrace the need for repentance, renewal, and reconciliation with God. Baptized with the Holy Spirit, we are called to ask ourselves if we are willing to become God's in-struments of justice, peace, and love not just during this Advent season, but for the rest of our lives. 

Sincerely yours in Jesus Christ and Our Lady of La Vang! 

Reverend Kiet Anh Ta.