Rejoice in the Lord Always
Br. Antonio Maria, O.P., reflects on the Gospel for the Third Sunday of Advent (Lk 3:10-18) in our weekly video series.
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul." — Psalm 23:2
Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and the one the Psalms speak of. He comes to offer pure water for our parched souls. However, John introduces our Lord today using entirely different imagery: Jesus comes bearing fire—the fire of the Holy Spirit—He fans the flames so that this fire may burn more intensely. How do we make sense of this apparent contradiction?
We might be tempted to focus only on the Jesus who brings calming water and carries us on his shoulder like little lambs. Some only seem to know about this Jesus. They think there’s another Jesus who brings fire and the sword. That Jesus is much more harsh. He makes demands of us! He makes no promises about keeping us free from suffering!
Of course, there’s only one Jesus. But the reality of our soul is that, just as we need water, we need fire. There’s chaff within us; it must go before we can find true rest. John reminds us today of the things we do because of the chaff. We extort and falsely accuse. We’re never satisfied with what we have. We grasp and hoard things.
We need this fire to make us clean, but it’s only human to be apprehensive. Fire is expansive; by itself, it doesn’t know when to stop. When it comes to the fire of the Holy Spirit, we must have faith that this fire won’t harm us at our core.
The Lord who brings the fire is the same Lord who wants to lead us to pure waters. He wants to use the fire for our good. If we let Him work on us, we’ll become like the burning Bush—on fire, yet not consumed. In this sense, how the Lord wishes that we were already burning!
We don’t necessarily have to go out seeking this fire. It finds us through the many circumstances and callings in our lives. The most important thing is to see our sufferings with the eyes of faith—finding in them an opportunity for abandonment and offering. And, by that same token, we can see the positive things in our life as an opportunity for gratitude and joy. In simplicity and forbearance, having no anxiety about anything, let us rejoice in the good gifts of the Lord our God—whether they feel like water or fire.
