Homily
for the 3rd Sunday
of Advent (Cycle C)
Based on Lk 3:10-18
(Gospel), Zap 3:14-18 (First Reading) and Phil 4:4-7 (Second
Reading)
From
the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”
STRAP OF HIS SANDALS
“The one is coming after me and I am not
fit to undo his sandal”
(Ac 13:25)
The Gospel reading for this 3rd
Sunday of Advent (Cycle C) is from Lk 3:10-18.
Verse 10
says: hWhen all the
people asked him,’ what must we do then? Footnote h
says “Vv. 10-14 (Lk only) emphasize the
practical and positive side of John’s teaching. Salvation is for all classes of
men but justice and charity are necessary in every walk of life.”
Parallel
text is Ac 2:37 that says: Hearing this, they were cut to the heart, and
said to Peter and the apostles, “What are we to do, brothers?”
Verses 11 says: he answered, If anyone has two tunics he must
share with the man who has name, and the one with something to eat must do the
same.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Lk 12:33 - On almsgivingd Sell you possessions
and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will
not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. Footnote d says “That
riches are a danger and should be given away in alms is characteristic teaching
of Lk: cf. 3:11; 6:30; 7:5; 11:41; 12:33-34; 14:14; 16:9; 18:22; 19:8; Ac 9:36;
Ac 10:2,4,31.”
2.
Mt 5:46 - For if you love those who love you, what
right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectorq do as
much, do they not? Footnote q says “They
were employed by the occupying power, and this earned them popular contempt cf.
9:10.”
Verses 12,
13, 14 and 15 say: These were tax
collectors too who came for baptism, and these said to him, ‘Master, what must
we do? He said to them, ‘Exact no more than your rate? Some soldiers asked him
on their turn,! What about us? What must we do? ‘He said to them, “No
intimidation! No extortion! Be content with your pay! A feeling of expectancy
had grown among the people, who were beginning to think that John might be the
Christ,
Parallel texts for verse 15 are:
1.
Jn 1:19-20 - This is how John appeared as a witness.
When the Jewss sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who
are you?’(v. 19) he not only declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I am not
the Christ’ (v. 20). Footnote
s says “In
Jn this usually indicates the Jewish religious authorities hostile to Jesus,
cf. 2:18; 5:10; 7:13; 9:22; 18:12; 19:38; 20:19, but occasionally the Jews as a
whole.”
2.
Jn 3:28 - You
yourselves can bear me out: I said: I myself am not the Christ; I am the one
who has been sent in front of him.
3.
Ac 13:25 - Before
John ended his career he said, “I am not the oneo
you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his
sandal”. Footnote o says “Var
‘what’.”
Verses 16, 17 and 18 say: So John declared before them all, ‘I baptize
you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am,
and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hands, to clear his threshing
floor and to gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire
that will never go out’
As well as this, there were
many other things he said to exhort the people and to announce the Good News to
them.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Jn 1:26,27, 33 - John replied, ‘I baptize with water; but
there stands among you-unknown to you (v. 26) - the one who is coming after me;
and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap’ (v. 27).
I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptize with
water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest in
the one who is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit” y (v. 33).
Footnote y says “This phrase sums up the whole purpose of the
Messiah’s coming, cf. Jn 1:1+, namely, that mankind might be born again in the
spirit: the O.T. had already foretold it,cf. Ac. 2:33+. The Spirit rests on
him, Is. 11:12, 42:1, Jn 1:33, and so he can confer it on others baptism on the
Spirit, cf. here and Ac 1:5+), but only after his resurrection, Jn
7:39,16:7,8,20:22; Ac.2. For Jesus came in the flesh, 1 Jn. 4:2, 2 Jn 7, flesh
that was corruptible, Jn 1:14+, and it is only when he is ‘lifted up; and has
gone to the Father that his body, glorified now, is fully endowed with divine,
life-giving power. Thenceforward the Spirit flows to the world from his body as
from an inexhaustible spring, Jn 7:37-39, 19:34, cf. Rm. 5:5+. For the water
symbolism, cf. Jn 4:1+.”
2.
Ac 1:5 - John baptized with water but you, not many
days from now, will be baptized e with the Holy Spirit. Footnote
e says “The
baptism of the Spirit foretold by John the Baptist, Mt. 3:11 p. and here
promised by Jesus, will be initiated by the outpouring of the Spirit at
Pentecost, Ac. 2:1-4. Subsequently, the apostles, obedient to Christ’s command,
Mt 28:19, will continue to make use of baptism in water, Ac. 2:41, 8:12, 38,
9:18, 10:48, 16:15, 33, 18:8, 19:5, as the ritual initiation into the messianic
kingdom, cf. Mt. 3:6+, but it will be ‘in the names of Jesus’, Ac. 2:38+, and
through belief in Christ as savior, cf.
Rm 6:4+, will be able to absolve from sins and to give the Spirit, Ac. 2;38. Connected with this
Christian baptism by water, there is the companion rite of the ‘imposition, 1 Tm. 4:14+, the purpose of
which is to give the gifts of the spirit in as manifest a way as they had been
given at Pentecost, Ac. 8:16-19, 9:17-18, 19:5-6 (but cf. 10:1-48); this is the
origin of the sacrament of confirmation. Side by side with these Christian
sacraments the baptism of John was for a time still being administered by
certain of the less instructed early Christians, Ac. 19:3.”
The First Reading is from Zap 3:14-18. Title of this scripture is Psalms of
joy in Ziong Footnote g says “The oracles of Zephaniah originally ended with these two psalms.”
Verse 14 says: Shout for joy, daughter of Zion,
Israel, shout aloud! Rejoice, exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem!
Parallel texts are:
1.
Ps 47:1
- Clap your hands, all you peoples, acclaim God with shouts of joy.
2.
Is 12:6
- Cry out for joy and gladness, you dwellers in Zion, for great in the midst of
you is the holy One of Israel.
3. Is 54:1 - Shout for joy, you barren women who bore no children! Break into cries
of joy and gladness, you who were never in labor! For the sons of the forsaken
one are more in number than the sons of the wedded wife,a say Yahweh.
Footnote a says “Apostle
Paul applies this image to the Church, the new Jerusalem.”
4.
Zc 2:14 - Sing,
rejoice, daughter of Zion; for I am coming to dwell in the middle of you - it
is Yahweh who speaks.
Verses 15
and 16 say: Yahweh has repealed your
sentence; he has driven your enemies away. Yahweh, the king of Israel, is in
your midst; you have no more evil to fear. When that day comes, word will come
to Jerusalem: Zion, have no fear, do not let your hands fall limp.
Parallel text for verse 15 is
Is 40:2 that says: Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call to her that her time of
service is ended, that her sin is atoned for, that she has received from the
hand of Yahweh double punishment for all her crimes.
Verses 17
and 18 say: Yahweh your God is in your
midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult with joy over you, he will renew youh
by his love; he will dance with shouts of joy for you as on a day of festival.i
Footnote h says “‘he will renew you’ Greek, Syr.; ‘he will
be silent’ Hebr.”; and Footnote i says “The
ritual dance played a large part in ancient ceremonial, ‘as on a day of
festival’ Greek, Syr.: ‘grieved far from the festival’ Hebr.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Is 62:5 - Like a young man marrying a virgin, so
will the one who built you wed you,d and as the bridegroom rejoices
in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you. Footnote d
says “‘Like’ DSIa and Greek. ‘the
one who built you’ corr.; ‘your sons’ Hebr.”
2.
Jr 32:41 - It will be my pleasure to bring about
their good, and I will plant them firmly in this land, with all my heart and
soul.
3.
Lm 2:6 - He has wrecked his own domain like a
garden, shattered his own gathering place; Yahweh has wiped out the memory of
festivals and Sabbaths in Zion; in the heat of his wrath he had repudiated king
and priest.
The Second Reading is from Phil 4:4-7.
Verse 4 says: I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord; I repeat, what I
want is your happiness.
Parallel text is Ph 1:4 that
says: Every time I pray for all of you, I pray with joy,b Footnote b
says “Joy is one of the
chief characteristics of this letter; cf. 1:18,25; 2:2,17,28,29; 3:1; 4:1,4,10.”
Verse 5 says: Let your tolerance be evident to everyone: the Lord is very near.
Parallel texts are:
1.
1 Co
16:22 - If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse on him. ‘Maranatha.’i Footnote
i says “These Aramaic words (‘the Lord is coming’)
had passed into liturgical use: they expressed the hope that the parousia would
not be long delayed. An alternative reading is Marana tha (Lord, come!), Rv
22:20. Cf. Rm 13:12; Ph 4:5; Jm 5:8; 1 P 4:7.”
2.
Tt 3:2 …not
to go slandering other people or picking quarrels, but to be courteous and
always polite to all kinds of people.
3.
Mt
6:25-34 - Trust in Providence: ‘That is why I am telling you not to worry about
your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and how you are to
clothe it. Surely. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothing! (v.
25). Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into
barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than
they are? (v. 26). Can any of you, for all his worrying, add one single cubit
to his span of life? (v. 27). And why worry about clothing? Think of the
flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin (v. 28); yet I
assure you that not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these
(v. 29). Now if that is how God clothes
the grass in the field which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow,
will he not much more look after you, you men of little faith? (v. 30). So do
not worry; do not say, ‘What are we to eat? How are we to be clothes?’ (v. 31).
It is the pagans who set their hearts into these things. Your heavenly Father
knows you need them all (v. 32). Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on
his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well (v.
33).
Verses 6
and 7 say: There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for
it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God,
which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and
your thoughts,b in Christ Jesus.
Footnote b says “Var.
‘your bodies’.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Jn 14:27 - Peaces
I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this
is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. Footnote
s says “The customary
Jewish greeting and farewell, cf. Lk. 10:5p; it means soundness of body but
came to be used of the perfect happiness
and the deliverance which the Messiah would bring. All this Jesus gives.”
2.
Col 3:15 - And may the peace of Christ reign in
your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of
one body. Always be thankful
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