by Fr Raymond Raj
Zephaniah 3:14-18
Psalm: Isaiah 12
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:10-18
Theme: Rejoice In The Lord
So my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, Saint Augustine, the doctor of Catholic Church (not medical doctor, theology doctor of the catholic Church), once he said this to remind this to remind each one of us. He said:
It was pride, it was ego that changed angels into devils. And it was humility that makes men like us to be angels.
Brothers and sisters in the Lord, humility is not only the mother but also the grandmother and the foundation of all the virtues in the Catholic Church. So speaking of humility, a story comes to my mind.
Bishop John is a very prominent and famous Bishop in the town. One day, Bishop John had to catch a flight to Singapore to attend the Bishops’ Conference.
So very early in the morning, this Bishop John got up very early, dressed up in his Roman collar, put up a very big cross on his neck and went straight to the airport. Arriving at the airport, he was shocked because the airport, the check-in counter was indeed very long queue. So he decided to follow the rules.
As a Bishop, he lined up in that long queue. As he was waiting and waiting and waiting, this Bishop John, he lost his patience. He lost his mind, actually.
So he cut the line, went straight to the counter, check-in counter, and he started to shout at this lady, the ticket lady.
“Excuse me, do you know who I am?”
“Excuse me, do you know who I am?” he asked the ticket staff lady, check-in counter.
This lady completely ignored Bishop John. So Bishop John, like many of us, he got mad. He got angry and he shouted to this lady:-
“Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am?”
This lady immediately took the microphone and made an announcement to the entire airport.
“Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention? There is a man here wearing a long big cross on his neck who doesn’t know who he is. Who doesn’t know who he is. If you happen to know him, please come to the counter and assist this Bishop.”
Brothers and sisters, Bishop John learned his most valuable lesson of his entire life. There is no respect for others without humility in oneself. There is no respect for others without humility in your own self.
Brothers and sisters in the Lord, in today’s Gospel, the Jewish people, the Jewish crowd, they begin to think John the Baptist is the long awaited Messiah. They thought John is Christ, the anointed One. The Jewish thought.
Generally speaking, my dear friends, John the Baptist, he was actually more famous, more popular than Jesus. During their time, John the Baptist was more popular and famous because John the Baptist, he was an expert in baptism.
That said however John the Baptist had the humility to deny himself by saying:
I am not Christ. I baptise you with water but someone more powerful than me is coming to baptise you with the Holy Spirit, with the fire. And I am not worthy to undo His straps.
So brothers and sisters, as baptised Christians, let us ask ourselves this one very fundamental question. Don’t ask your wife, your husband. Don’t ask other people’s opinion. Ask your own very self today this question:-
~ As a Christian, in my church ministry, in my ministry work, am I drawing people to Christ? Or am I drawing people to myself?
~ In my ministry as a Catholic, in this parish, am I drawing others to Christ or am I drawing others towards me?
When it comes to faith, my dear friends, am I the centre of attraction or Jesus Christ is the centre of attraction? Let us ask this question.
It is very, very sad and true also most of the time our ministry, our good works or even charity for that matter are self-orientated. Not Christ-orientated.
That is why we always argue, we always fight, we always quarrel in the parish because our ministry is not Christ-orientated but rather it is self-orientated.
Brothers and sisters in the Lord, the third Sunday of Advent is a call to be a joyful disciple of Christ, not a self-pity disciple.
So today, brothers and sisters, if Jesus is the centre of our ministry, if Jesus Christ is the centre of our worship, then I can assure you today our ministry will always be ‘gaudate‘, will always be joyful.
And I can bet this from the bottom of my dollars (and please don’t come to me asking dollars. I don’t have no money also).
So brothers and sisters, like John the Baptist who joyfully gave his head for Christ, as Christians, let us pray for the grace to serve our parish, to serve in the ministry joyfully.
We pray for this grace during this Holy Mass.
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