3rd Sunday in Advent

Good morning everyone,  

Last week as I was talking to one of my friends, he said that he is thinking of his life otherwise, I mean taking his life. Then came a pause between us and he said, “Why do you sound so excited?” I said, “no, not at all. I am moderately happy”. Then I continued saying, “Do you remember three weeks ago, you bought that beautiful pair of shoes for $600 and can I have them after you died?” He hung up the phone on me. That happens a lot these days and I don’t know why my friends do this to me.  

Then two days later, he called me again and said, “I am so happy now. What happened? Nothing. My wife told me that I am happy. So, I won’t have those shoes then? Then I talked to his wife and the Moses in me came out and said, “Let him go gracefully”.  

We often hear about Good News and Bad news jokes. Once a gallery owner said to a famous painter. By the way, I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is this morning a man came by and said, “if the price of the painting would go up if you die and I said, “Yes, of course, he is one of the famous painters in town. So, he bought all of them for two million dollars. What is the bad news? The bad news is that man was your doctor. 

Our faith is not all about sin, death and punishment. It’s about life, happiness and heaven. That’s why this Sunday in a special way, is called, ‘Joyful Sunday’. We celebrate this joyful Sunday praising Jesus who destroyed sin and death and showed the way to our eternal home. 

Once a Rabbi visited a Muslim family on Christmas day. Since the both were not celebrating, ‘Christmas’, they went to a Chinese restaurant on Christmas day. As they finished eating, the waiter brought a little Christmas gift to the Rabbi that said made in India. The Rabbi smiled and said, “Wow...this is amazing. Here I am in a Chinese restaurant with my Muslim friends getting a Christmas gift from a Buddhist waiter, made by a Hindu. 

The joy of Christmas is sharing ‘Christ’ with everyone. The joy of Christ mas is sharing God’s love and kindness with everyone. The joy of Christmas is sharing Christ’s compassion and forgiveness with others.  

I used to be mad and unhappy to see a Hindu or a Muslim coming to Christian shrines and experiencing healing. I used to say to myself, “you know what I was baptized, I received First Communion and I practice my Catholic faith, miracles and wonders should only happen to me and other Catholics, not to those Hindus and Muslims. Then I understood that Christ belongs to all. His love and forgiveness are unlimited. We should share the joy of Christ with all. Our prayers and spiritual practices help believers and non-believers alike. When we are good faith practicing Catholics, then the world will benefit from us tremendously. 

In today’s gospel, we meet with so many people from different walks of life, coming to John and asking before receiving their baptism, “What should I do?” The question is, “What should I do to enter into the kingdom of heaven?” 

All, John was saying is, “Be fair and nice to others”. As anti-intellectualism is growing so fast today. It’s because, not many people want to know something new every day. It’s because, not many people want to face any challenge today and it’s because, not many people would dare to go beyond their routine lifestyle and thus anti-intellectualism is growing so fast today.  

Once George Bernard Shaw said, “There are only three kinds of people we see. There are people who make thing happening. There are people who watch thing happening and there are people who do not know what is happening. 

Thus, many people are losing ground and losing hope. Poverty is growing everywhere and today people do not hesitate to blame it on the government and politicians; blame it on the economic and social systems and family and culture. 

Then comes John the Baptist and says, “Play a fair game and be nice to others...if they need something, help them. Lift them up”. 

John was eliminating the fear in people saying, “There is more powerful than I, is coming and He will baptize you with fire and the Holy Spirit. He will show the way to the Father and the Messiah is coming. 

Once a mouse was in a constant distress because of the fear of cats. Then a spiritual master took pity on the mouse and turned it into cat. But then, it became afraid of dogs. So, the spiritual master changed it into dog. The dog was afraid of tigers saying, “They are stronger than me’. Then the Master changed the dog into a tiger. But then, it was afraid of hunters. At that point, the spiritual master turned the tiger into a little mouse and said, “I can do nothing for you as long as you have the mind of a mouse”.  

If we have the mind of a mouse, all our coming to Church and practicing faith will not bring any effect at all. This Christmas will also be one among others. But, on the other hand, if we change and extend ourselves to the needs of others and do what we should do to bring prosperity and peace, then we will be baptized over and over again with fire and the Holy Spirit. Amen.