Commentary

1. First Reading: Zep 3:14-18a (An Oracle)

After the judgment against Jerusalem comes now this oracle of restoration: God will reclaim his people after a period of purification. This purification – a period of punishment by destruction, colonization and exile – is needed because the leaders of the people, the state and the temple, together with the people, have sinned against the Lord. Sin here is defined (Ch. 3) by a break in the personal and intimate – not legal and juridical – relationship between God and the people. But from out of this ruin comes God’s initiative of forgiveness and mercy. He will scatter the enemies of the people. Jerusalem will be the glorious center of the nation once again. For truly God is the king of Israel and He lives in the heart of the people. Among the remnant poor and humble people He will proclaim His joy and raise them up in his glorious festivals. Therefore, Israel must rejoice!

2. Responsorial Psalm: Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 (A Hymn)

This is a hymn that concludes the vision of the coming of Emmanuel amid the destruction of the nation because of ill-advised international alliances during the Syro-Ephramaite War. In fact, Samaria fell in 722 BCE. The reversal of fortune is proclaimed: a hope for the return from exile, the end of injustice and oppression and an experience of a new Exodus. The people must rejoice: God intervenes in their human history and He is their liberation-salvation.

3. Second Reading: Phil 4:4-7 (Exhortation)

Paul’s invitation or exhortation to rejoice connects these verses to Ch. 3:1. Joy is the tone of the whole letter to the Philippians, a joy that arises even in Paul’s imprisonment. This is not an individualistic joy. It is a joy that must be shared by everyone in the community because its reasons are not private and individual, but personal, communitarian and social: your kindness should be known to all; the Lord is near; the peace of God erases all anxieties and predisposes you to a confident and grateful prayer. This joy is the peace in Christ!

4. Gospel: Lk 3:10-18

This is still in the context of Luke’s highlighting contrasts and contradictions. John the Baptist, the last prophet of the old times and herald of the new, proclaims God’s opportune time for conversion and reversal. In the concrete, he offers a social critique based on the word of God that must now be practiced in the human cooperation with the divine preparation for the coming of the Messiah. Everyone must share the goods of the earth for the common good; no to greed and individualism; tax collectors must be honest in their job; no to corruption and social theft; soldiers must not use their military power to oppress people, to gain advantage over others and to enrich themselves; no to extortion, false accusations and planting of evidence to gain promotion and no to mercenary military service. This is the way to prepare for the coming of the Messiah here and now. This is how we, the people, cooperate with God’s gracious design! God will soon reveal his Messiah whose baptism is more decisive and superior to John’s. While John baptized with the water of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire: a new alternative way of living inspired by the Holy Spirit, and with the finality of justice and judgement. – Fr. Ben, MSC