THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT (C) : 15th December 2024

The apparent delight of Prophet Zephaniah to
proclaim that God will redeem Israel burst into his
urging everyone to shout aloud with joy as in a festival.
St Paul insisted to the Philippians to dwell always on
the happiness in the Lord; he qualified that the
happiness is attainable with constant prayer in
thanksgiving in the Lord who will guard their hearts and
thoughts in Christ Jesus.

It is heartening that after John the Baptist’s fiery
preaching, he gave no harsh demands to his listeners to
prepare for the coming of the Lord. He demanded
simple justice – share what you have with others, meet
their basic needs. If you are in a position of authority,
don’t abuse power. No extortion or oppression – in other
words, live the golden rule. If these are abided by, then
they will be prepared to meet God. From him we also
learn that the label we have or what others call us or
what we call ourselves is not important. How we treat
others and what sort of relationship we have with God
is more important . To the eager crowds, he exhorts
them to prepare for Christ who is more powerful to
convert hearts.

Advent prepares our hearts to be more docile to
gratitude. Perhaps, it is good practice to name ten
grateful things of the day to God before dozing off to
sleep. It instills the virtue of gratitude in recognizing
God in our daily encounters.

Lord, May our gratitude be superfluous to the deeds we
do for others.