{"id":5441,"date":"2022-12-09T08:39:16","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T07:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/predication.net\/?p=5441"},"modified":"2022-12-09T08:39:18","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T07:39:18","slug":"third-sunday-a-of-advent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/predication.net\/?p=5441","title":{"rendered":"Third Sunday A of Advent"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am a Catholic Christian not only because I am baptized, but because I profess my faith and live according to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we learn a foreign language, we should be able to introduce ourselves in that language.\u00a0More and more it is required to have education, expertise, experience, and skill. We are witnessing that our time is marked by the devaluation of the human word, and deeds are more required.\u00a0It used to be said that clothes make man. Doesn’t it make a person more that he keeps his word, his honesty, character, responsibility, and loyalty?<\/span>
\nThe season of Advent enters not only into our conscience so that we reevaluate who we are, and what kind of Christians we are. This is what our deeds speak about.\u00a0The current problem of the relationship of St.\u00a0John the Baptist to Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

Evangelist St.\u00a0Matthew tells about the actions of St.\u00a0John in the dungeon, and how he sends his disciples to Jesus to ask: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we wait for someone else” (Mt 11:3)?<\/span><\/p>\n

The activity of St.\u00a0John the Baptist did not last long.\u00a0Herod threw him into prison at the instigation of his illegitimate wife Herodias.\u00a0John lives in very dramatic events.\u00a0He fulfilled his duties faithfully, and for the truth that he told in the face of the guilty, Herod and Herodias, he suffers.\u00a0He witnesses that injustice and evil triumph over honesty and doing good.\u00a0John is determined to be faithful to his mission until the end.\u00a0The question with which he sends his disciples to Jesus can be understood in two ways.\u00a0For example, he doubted the messianic mission of Jesus or wanted to draw Jesus’ attention to the state in which he found himself. It is possible that John was simply disturbed by Jesus’ actions.\u00a0Some see John’s actions as a certain crisis in his profession.<\/span>
\nJesus does not answer John directly, but John deduces the correct answer from what he tells him.\u00a0It is a clear view of the Messiah.\u00a0More clearly than the prophets in the Old Testament foretold about the Messiah.\u00a0The Acts speak of Jesus as the true Messiah: “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, and the gospel is preached to the poor” (Mt 11:5). Jesus quotes the words of the prophet Isaiah, which apply to his activity.\u00a0Until then, John did not reconcile this prophecy with the activity of the Lord Jesus.\u00a0After the departure of John’s disciples, Jesus gives the most beautiful testimony about John.\u00a0Jesus refutes John’s doubts when he says: “Among those born of women, no one has risen greater than John the Baptist” (Mt 11:11).\u00a0Such an explanation is not yet complete.\u00a0Even then, Jesus thinks of every person.\u00a0He is after all God and knows about the struggles and struggles in the life of every person until the end of time, and so to each of us who will show the courage to believe in Christ and accept him as our God and Lord, Jesus says: “But he who is in heaven lesser kingdom is greater than he” (Mt 11:11).\u00a0So each of us – who faithfully perseveres with Christ – will find a reward in the kingdom of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

God cannot be as we imagine him, as we would like him to be.\u00a0God has his plans.\u00a0We will be rewarded according to how faithfully we fulfill his will.\u00a0If we experience similar states as John the Baptist, let’s make sure that our will is in agreement with the will of God.\u00a0To do everything that God expects of us.\u00a0John fulfilled his mission.\u00a0So we understand that God will allow John to die in prison.\u00a0God does not perform miracles to save his faithful from death.\u00a0After all, a long life on earth is not a goal for man.\u00a0Those faithful to God await their homeland in heaven.\u00a0They trust God more than themselves, they value death more than life on earth, and especially when they are convinced in their conscience that they have fulfilled their mission.\u00a0God determines our mission.\u00a0It is necessary to realize: who I am, where I am from, what is my mission, my goal on earth.\u00a0John was a voice calling in the wilderness.\u00a0So he was Herod,\u00a0he was preparing people’s hearts to receive Jesus.\u00a0His baptism of repentance was a real call to change and correct life.\u00a0He knew who he was, and that is why he speaks the truth even when he knows that he will have to sacrifice his life for the truth.\u00a0What should he value more?\u00a0His life in comfort, but he will not fulfill his mission, or prison, death and for that a reward from Jesus himself.\u00a0Jesus himself did not come to be served, but to serve.\u00a0That is why our activity must not be based on the glory of this world, but on the reward he promised to those who persevere with him to the end.\u00a0Jesus himself did not come to be served, but to serve.\u00a0That is why our activity must not be based on the glory of this world, but on the reward he promised to those who persevere with him to the end.\u00a0Jesus himself did not come to be served, but to serve.\u00a0That is why our activity must not be based on the glory of this world, but on the reward he promised to those who persevere with him to the end.<\/span>
\nWhoever correctly asks himself about his mission on earth, what he is entrusted with by God, and what he is supposed to be, will not be disappointed. The grain’s role in the world is to die.\u00a0Either he turns into food and thus completes his mission, or he dies to the earth on his death becomes a new life in a new ear. The grain glorifies God the Creator with its death.\u00a0A lily will not grow into a nettle, a spruce into a linden, a lily will still be a lily, and a spruce will remain a spruce. So let’s all remain what we are meant to be.\u00a0In nature, every plant and animal fulfills its mission, although it does not realize what God wants from it.\u00a0They have it in them from the Creator.\u00a0Man was the only work of God endowed with reason, will, and body, and with his work, he is supposed to take care of the glorification of God on earth, to know God, love God, and serve God.<\/span>
\nA Catholic Christian has accepted, either personally or through his parents and godparents, the obligation to confess his faith and live according to it.\u00a0Whether he acts like that, whether it’s a really very person knows, and at the same time, he is the mastermind of his hapless here on earth, but certainly one day also after his death. A Catholic Christian is, after all, a child of God.\u00a0Doesn’t he pray: Our Father…?<\/span>
\nAdvent is a time to realize: Where is my life leading without God?\u00a0What am I without God?\u00a0Jesus once spoke very harsh words about a fig tree that did not bear fruit in its season.\u00a0Maybe we or someone on our behalf begged God in a similar situation a year ago to wait a little longer, not to punish us, and give, us more time to make amends. The time is here.\u00a0God is the only Lord of time and eternity.\u00a0He is the one who called us and will call us.\u00a0John the Baptist fulfilled his mission.\u00a0He deserved his reward.<\/span>
\nAdvent is not explicitly understood as a memento of death, but rather of joy, and that is why we remember the words of the philosopher and sage Seneca, who says: “He is mistaken who thinks that he is beginning to die when a cold sweat breaks out on his forehead when his eyes turn away into a pillar and the heart stops beating. We die every day, and our last hour does not bring death, it only completes it.\u00a0As it would be ridiculous to say that the hourglass begins to empty only when there are only a few grains of sand left in it, so it is ridiculous to say that a person dies when he has a few moments left to live.\u00a0As an hourglass begins to empty as soon as it is turned upside down, so a man begins to die as soon as he is born.”<\/span>
\nOne can therefore say: Lord, be my daily bread, the source of my strength, my source, and my joy (cf. Lanza del Vasto).<\/span><\/p>\n

John the Baptist can rightly be considered a man of new thinking and approach to life.\u00a0Jesus also confirmed this when he exalted Elizabeth’s son.\u00a0We all need similar recognition.\u00a0It is a challenge for us, in our everyday life. Today we do not know what awaits us in a moment.\u00a0We should already follow the example of St.\u00a0John the Baptist.\u00a0Loyalty to God is manifested in different ways.\u00a0It is possible to solve, for example, an insult in this way.<\/span><\/p>\n

The famous clown Glock is said to have once received a letter full of insults.\u00a0His friends advised him to sue the author of the letter.\u00a0After all, no one is obliged to be insulted.\u00a0Glock had a better method.\u00a0He sent a letter to the sender with a note:<\/span>
\n“Dear Mr.\u00a0I received this letter yesterday.\u00a0I am sending it back to you because some insolent scoundrel misused your name, and you, as a respectable person, are not capable of such rudeness.”<\/span>
\nSincerely…<\/span><\/p>\n

How the addressee reacted to the returned letter is not so important to us.\u00a0It is more necessary to see an example of our similar action. Today’s John – a Catholic Christian has his difficulties, but he is also responsible for solving his mission and position.<\/span>
\nIt is also necessary to have responsibility for your surroundings, as John the Baptist had.<\/span><\/p>\n

The organ consists of hundreds of pipes, but alas, when only one “hangs” when it cannot be closed. It sounds all the time and spoils everyone else’s game.\u00a0That’s how it is between people in the family, in the parish, and the world.<\/span>
\nFor example, who does not want to submit to others, who always asserts his truth, argues, and spoils everyone’s coexistence. For life to flow like harmonious music, all must submit to one law of love.\u00a0And it says that we should help each other carry burdens.\u00a0John prepared the way for the Lord.\u00a0You have fulfilled your mission.\u00a0Jesus is doing the will of his Father.\u00a0Therefore, Jesus refers: “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the gospel is preached to the poor” (Mt 11:5).\u00a0John understood, which is why Matthew highlights the words of the Lord Jesus: “And blessed is he who does not take offense at me” (Mt 11:5).<\/span><\/p>\n

What kind of Christian am I?\u00a0What I think or want to say is not enough.\u00a0Beware of conscience!\u00a0The Advent preacher fulfilled what Jesus expected from him, and that is why John received words of appreciation.\u00a0And that is a reminder for us too.<\/span><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am a Catholic Christian not only because I am baptized, but because I profess my faith and live according to it. 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