The Simple Truth

Gospel	Luke 3:10-18

'Someone is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire'

When all the people asked John, ‘What must we do?’ he answered, ‘If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same.’ There 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 in 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, 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 hand 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.

IT IS REALLY SIMPLE SOMETIMES

I guess I am a lazy person because I really like it when these reflections just about right themselves.  Our Gospel reading for this third Sunday in Advent is a reading that lends itself to this.  We humans like to make things more complicated than they need to be at times.  John, anticipating the teaching of his cousin breaks it down for the people. 

DEFEATING THE ME FACTOR

First, ordinary people come and ask John what is it that they could do to prepare for the Messiah.  He keeps it simple.  He tells us that we should step out of ourselves, look less at what is good for "me" and share with those in need.  Again he keeps it simple.  Clothe the naked and feed the hungry. To the tax collectors, he says to be honest and to do your job, collect only what is due. Next came the soldiers.  They were told to be content with their pay and not to demand through intimidation money from innocent citizens. 

LET'S MAKE IT REALLY SIMPLE 

We can boil this down to its organic essence, free from additives or complications and needing very little by way of explanation.  Stop doing evil and start doing good.  Make the world a better place by thinking of others before you think of yourself.  That's it.  Look outside of your little world and engage with those in need around you.

A VIEW OF THE MESSIAH

John also gives us a view of the Messiah that is at odds with the thinking of the time.  The Messiah was going to save Israel, throw the Romans out, bring back the glory days of David, and make Israel the number one nation. Hot Dog!  They could hardly wait!  But what is it that John says about the Messiah?  He says that the Messiah will separate the useful from the useless, the good from the bad.  The good will be gathered up and the chaff, that which is blown away by the winnowing fan, will be cast into an everlasting fire.  

COULD HE BE THE ONE?

John spoke as no other prophet had spoken to the people up to that time.  The people, the pew dwellers of the day, could see that his teaching was new, novel, and they had never heard such a thing from the learned Pharisees and Sadducees in the temple. John tells them that he is not the Messiah and that he, John, is not worthy to stoop down and untie the Messiah's sandal. The people, I believe, read between the lines and while John was not the Messiah, it seemed that the Messiah was very close to arriving. The crowd left wondering if they were the generation that would see the Messiah.  

SO IT IS REALLY SIMPLE

Listen to John.  Stop doing bad and start doing good.  Turn away from evil, repent, and start walking with the Messiah. Prepare the way as John did.  Let everyone know what you know.  Life can be good if we look around and share with one another.  The Messiah is coming and is already in our hearts. 

Prayer for the Holy Souls in Purgatory by St. Gertrude the Great

According to tradition, St. Gertrude the Great was told by Our Lord that the following prayer, each time she piously recited it, would release 1,000 souls (or a vast number) from their suffering in purgatory:

“Eternal Father,
I offer You the most precious blood
of thy Divine Son, Jesus,
in union with the Masses said
throughout the world today,
for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,
for sinners everywhere,
for sinners in the universal Church,
for those in my own home,
and in my family. Amen.”