Daily Gospel Mass Reflection- Desert Repentance

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 12.16.21 | Aux. Bishop R. Barron

[MurphsLaw]

THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT

LUKE 7:24-30

Friends, in today’s Gospel, once again the fiery and frightening character of John the Baptist bursts on the scene as the forerunner of Jesus. The opening line is important. Jesus asks the crowds, “What did you go out to the desert to see?” The desert is a place of simplicity and poverty, a place where illusions die, where reality is faced honestly and without compromise.

The Bible frequently employs the desert as the setting for the discovery of bold and simple truths. Advent is, for us, a desert time. It brings us back to the basics.

Now, what does John say in the desert? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). That wonderful word, “repent,” implies a change of mind and vision. John is telling his audience (and us) to wake up and be ready to see something. What does he want us to see? The kingdom, the new order, God’s way of doing things. There is a cleaning and a scouring, a rearranging and a renovation that is going to happen. And we have to be ready for it.

Reflect: What gets in the way of your own vision of the kingdom of God? How can you improve your vision as Advent draws to a close?

[MurphsLaw]

+++When the messengers of John the Baptist had left,
Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John.
“What did you go out to the desert to see
a reed swayed by
the wind?
Then what did you go out to see?
Someone dressed in fine garments?
Those who dress luxuriously and live sumptuously
are found in royal palaces.
Then what did you go out to see?
A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom Scripture says:

Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
he will prepare your way before you.

I tell you,
among those born of women, no one is greater than John;
yet the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.”
(All the people who listened, including the tax collectors,
who were baptized with the baptism of John,
acknowledged the righteousness of God;
but the Pharisees and scholars of the law,
who were not baptized by him,
rejected the plan of God for themselves.)+++