The real Happiness

 

The gospel for today begins with a beautiful question by three types of people who having listened to John the Baptist ask him what they should do.

What is the beauty of this question?

It is the humility and the desire of the people to know and do the will of God that makes it beautiful. In fact, it seems that this is an important question that each of us should ask God every moment.

Here there are three types of people who ask John the Baptist what they should do. Three types of individuals stand for three different attitudes in a human being.

The first is the crowd. The ordinary crowd refers to the ordinary mindset of man. John's answer to them is that he who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. That is, do what you have not done before. It means to avoid the sins of omission. Often, we do not consider omission as sin. But this sin is expounded in many places in the Holy Scriptures. The most unfortunate thing is that omission many times leads us to other grave sins. Let us see some examples.

The main reason for the fall of first parents in the Garden of Eden is Adam's omission. If the enemy had chased away as soon as it entered the garden, or if he as a perfect husband had protected Eve and spoken to the serpent himself, or at least if he had called on God, nothing would have happened later.

In the history of Israel, King David. He stays in Jerusalem instead of going with his soldiers during a war. But that omission led him to commit adultery and murder later. That is why the apostle James said: “Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17). So, it is already clear that omission is something that needs to be looked at very carefully.

The second group is the tax collectors. Who were the tax collectors? It was the Jews who levied tolls for the Romans. For their profit they used to collect more toll from the people than they were charged. That is why John tells them to charge only what is commanded. i.e., Not to do evil. So, the first group stands for sin by omission and the second group for the sin by commission.

The third group is soldiers. They are the ones who fight for the peace and tranquillity of their homeland. They are asked not to threaten anyone and not to make false accusations. Here he is referring to the sin by words. There are soldiers in the human mind too - the soldiers who maintain our self-esteem. Many times, our self-esteem is protected by spreading lies and false accusations. It should be avoided altogether. In today's social context, sins with words are an area that we need to evaluate very carefully. We are enslaved to the sins by words not only when we speak, but also when we share some posts on social media without even inquiring whether the accusations made by someone are true or false and even by adopting attitudes that go hand in hand with such ideologies.

There are six things which the Lord hates seven which are an abomination to him" then adds the seventh one: “a false witness who breathes out lies” (Proverbs 6:16).

Listen to what the apostle James says: “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is vain.” (James 1:26). So, let’s avoid sins by words so that our devotional practices will not be in vain.

Dear ones, as people who were waiting for the Messiah were asked to be free from the sins by words, deeds and omission so also, we are asked to be. That is why as we prepare to receive Christ in the Holy Communion, in the penitential act we ask pardon for what we have done by thoughts, words, deeds, and omission.

If we consider the whole predication of John the Baptist in the desert, we will find the structure of a holy mass. The first part is an invitation to repentance followed by teaching or predication, and it finishes with indicating Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world in the Gospel of John. What come out here actually is the structure of a holy mass.

People who heard the words of John the Baptist began to ask him whether he was the Messiah who was to come. But John makes it clear that he was not the Messiah and then he starts to teach them who is true Messiah.

The first, John says that the Messiah will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. What is this fire? In the constitution of the Second Vatican Council on the Sacred liturgy council fathers name this fire as covenant. Covenant is an agreement between two parties. Although covenant and contract seem to be synonyms, contracts usually refer to the transfer of goods and services, but Covenant stands for the transfer of individuals. For example, marriage is a covenant. There two individuals are exchanged with each other with equal rights. No one is enslaved here. So, they become a family. The history of salvation in the Bible goes on through covenants. The covenant in Latin is called “sacramentum” from which comes the word sacraments. If so, here John the Baptist is referring to sacraments.

What are the sacraments? There are 3 main things that are said about the sacraments. Sacraments are ‘powers that come forth’ from the Body of Christ, which is ever living and lifegiving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in His Body, the Church. They are ‘the masterworks of God’ in the new and everlasting covenant” (CCC n. 1116).

In this light, John the Baptist's words, "I baptize you with water," means that by water John gives a new life on earth by means of material thing, and Jesus baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" means Jesus will give you divine life, a supernatural life through the Holy Spirit and the sacraments that come out of him.

What is the difference between these two lives? We lose the earthly life, but the divine life never perishes. That is why when we receive the divine life through baptism, we become members of the mystical body of Christ. In fact, that is what makes man happy. We have this eternal life, the same life of God. Happiness is a word that we find in every reading for today. The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday, the joyful Sunday. That is why the priest wears rose chasuble. It all reveals the joy of eternal life. It is our duty to make that divine life more radiant in us. If baptism was the door to receive the divine life, then the holy communion is the food to sustain the divine life.

Dear friends, do we have the conviction that this divine life is in us? Do we try to nurture it? How to nurture it?  Look at the reply of John the Baptist. Yes, turn away from sins by thoughts, words, deeds, and omission. If we put a rock in a glass of milk will not get any change. But if you put a biscuit in the milk, it will slowly dissolve and join with the milk. Milk is divine life. If we do not harden our hearts, we too can become one in the divine life. May God Almighty bless us! The Father and The Son and the holy Spirit. Amen