Baruch 5:1-9 / Philippians 1:3-6, 8-11 / Luke
3:1-6
During this season of Advent,
a famous figure will appear, and he is supposed to bring some cheer.
Maybe we already have an idea
of who he is. He has a white bushy beard, quite roundish, dressed in red with
white trimmings, and his famous quote is “Ho, ho, ho”. Of course we are talking
about Santa Claus.
Maybe some trivia about Santa
Claus. Where does he stay when he goes on holiday? – Ho-ho-hotel.
What is the name of his pet
cat? Santa Claws. What is the name of
his pet fish? Santa Jaws.
Santa Claus only appears
around this time in the festive decorations and also in commercials. But Santa
Claus is not a clever figment of commercial imagination.
The name is actually derived
from St. Nicholas who lived in the 4th century and he was the bishop
of Myra, which is in modern day Turkey.
His feast day is on the 6th
December, which was last Thursday, and many miracles were attributed to his
intercession and he was known as Nicholas the Wonder Worker.
He is often pictured with
three golden balls which represent the three purses of gold he was said to have
given secretly to a poor man who could not afford dowries for his three
daughters.
Hence the golden balls
decorations that are hung on the Christmas tree represent the generosity and
helping of the poor by St. Nicholas, which is also the spirit of the season.
Appearing in this season of
Advent is also another saint, though he is quite the opposite in appearance to
St. Nicholas.
As we heard in the gospel, in
the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, Herod
tetrarch of Galilee, and other big names of that time, the Word of God came to
John, son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.
So the Word of God came to
John when he was somewhere in the wilderness. It was quite a contrast to the
big names and the big places that were mentioned before him.
And with that, John went
through the whole Jordan district proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins. And that was how he became known as John the Baptist.
As the prophet Isaiah puts it:
A voice cries in the wilderness, prepare a way for the Lord. And all mankind
shall see the salvation of God.
With the Word of God, John the
Baptist proclaimed repentance and forgiveness of sins, so that people can see
the salvation of God, the great love of God.
It was a simple message with a
profound meaning and it turned people back to God.
At the time when the power and
might of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Annas and Caiaphas cast a
fearsome shadow on the land and on the people, the Word of God came to John the
Baptist to bring about repentance, forgiveness and salvation.
Well, the Word of God comes to
us today, to bring us repentance, forgiveness and salvation. And so what we
going to do about it? Surely, we don’t want this season of Advent to pass by
with the hustle and bustle and then with Christmas coming and going just like
that.
It is said that what will get
us to act comes from one or a combination of these reasons: pain, fear, hope
and joy.
When we feel the piercing pain
of an illness or disease, we will turn to Jesus for healing and strength.
Physical pain there will be,
and we can cope with the help of medication. What is more difficult to cope is
the pain of fear. So what is this pain of fear?
It could be the fear of
forgiveness. We don’t want to forgive those who have hurt us and we still bear
that pain. We don’t want to forgive them for fear that they will hurt us again.
So within us there is this vicious cycle of pain and fear.
But not to forgive is like
holding on to a burning charcoal and hoping that the other person will be
burnt. Not to forgive is also like drinking poison and hoping that the other
person will die.
But the truth is that we are
the ones getting burnt and we are the ones dying within.
So with this internal pain and
fear, will we want to forgive those who have hurt us?
Well, as we know, God forgives
us and He also wants us to forgive others. Why would God want to forgive us?
God wants to forgive us
because He wants to give us the hope of being healed and to have the joy of
being freed from pain and fear.
God is our hope and God is our
joy. Indeed He is hope and joy, and the reason He forgives us is because He
hopes that we will turn back to Him and that will be His joy. And that’s what
salvation is about.
So too when we forgive, it is
because we put our hope in God who will heal us and because we want to have the
joy of being freed from the darkness that is choking the life out of us.
So the Word of God has come to
us today, and if we are not going to do anything about it, then we will
continue to live in pain and fear.
But when we act upon the Word
of God and repent and forgive, then God will grant us His hope and joy.
St. Nicholas and John the
Baptist acted on the Word of God and they saw the salvation of God.
When we act on the Word of
God, we too will see the salvation of God.