4th Sunday of Advent 2024

(re-post from 2021)

It's the 4th Sunday of Advent.

As we did in the past, we'll reference the Gospel for each of the four Sunday's of Advent, in order, as observed in the traditional Roman Liturgy, known these days as the Extraordinary Form, or Tridentine Rite, or Traditional Latin Mass (TLM). These four Gospels were always repeated, every year, from the time of the Council of Trent in the 16th century, until post-Vatican II. They will provide a clear path for our journey through this Holy Season as we prepare ourselves for Christmas.

The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Advent is a short one: Luke 3:1-6. Like last week's Gospel, it focuses on John the Baptist. In returning to John this week, we understand the central role John the Baptist in salvation history. Our Lord called him the greatest of the prophets. He is also the last in that line. God has sent no other prophets after John the Baptist. His life and work sums up that of all the other prophets. In other Gospel passages, we see John immediately recognize Him. Despite the zeal John had for his own work, he immediately announces that his work must decrease, as Jesus increases.

In today's passage, the first thing that strikes us is the precision with which St. Luke introduces John and his work. He locates him in an exact moment in time and at an exact place, as well as identifying his parental lineage.

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturea, and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina; Under the high priests Annas and Caiphas; the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. 

St. Luke not only establishes John's credibility, but his own as well. His references would be well known to his audience at the time. They also help subsequent generations to understand that he's writing about concrete reality, not some story someone made up. Why do I mention this? Well, the typical "modern" sensibility - especially these days - downplays or pooh-poohs the reality of historical events as recounted in the Bible, particularly events recounted in the Gospels. Heck, the head of the Jesuits recently said we really can't rely on the accuracy of the words attributed to Jesus in the Gospels; after all, there were no voice recorders at the time (one of the more irresponsible, outrageous, and moronic claims I've ever come across!).

Having established the credibility of his story, he follows with the words of St. John the Baptist himself. The reference to Isaias reminds us of St. John's Gospel last week. But there's a bit more detail in St. Luke's reporting:

And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins; As it was written in the book of the sayings of Isaias the prophet: A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled; and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight; and the rough ways plain; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

In these final days of the Holy Season of Advent, we don't need to concern ourselves with how we might know whether St. John said exactly these words. The odds are, he did. How do we know? Well, St. John was the person about whom Isaias was speaking centuries before. St. John the Baptist was indeed the one who would prepare "the way of the Lord." St. Luke's Gospel clearly verifies this.It all fits together, doesn't it?

What we might wonder, though, is whether our lives prepare the way of the Lord. Considering our daily thoughts, words, and actions, we ask ourselves: Do these make straight His paths?

But didn't St. John already make straight His paths? He did. So what's left for us to do? To answer this, consider: By the action of His baptism by St. John in the Jordan River, Our Lord took Himself from the obscurity of His life in Nazareth with Joseph and Mary, and manifested His presence before all of Israel and eventually the world.

The key word here is "eventually." The manifestation of the Lord may have begun with His Baptism in the Jordan River, but it didn't end there. It didn't even end with Passion, Death, and Resurrection. It continued with the Apostles. From there, it continues to this day with the spreading of the Good News by His Bride, the Holy Catholic Church. People die, people are born. Many of those alive now don't know Our Lord. So we who are part of His Mystical Body in the Church are called continue that same work begun with the water poured on His Sacred Head by St. John the Baptist. Each of us does this in his or her own way: We teach our children about our Holy Religion and help them learn to love the Lord; our words and actions serve as an example to them. We're not afraid to declare - when called upon - our Catholic faith. Maybe some of us are called to directly defend our faith, even become martyrs. Whatever it might be, we're open to our particular calling as a member of the Body of Christ.

So in these waning days of Advent we continue to wait. We pray. We sacrifice. Doing so we prepare the way of the Lord, we make straight His paths. May we continue to do so throughout the New Year.

Our final selection from the Messiah before Christmas: "For Unto Us a Child is Born." Let the words sink in and open our hearts to the day of His birth and the day of His return. Rejoice! He is coming