by Father Michael Panicali
EVERY BIG-NAME comedian or music group knows the importance of having a good warm-up act work the crowd before they have to take the stage.
The people living in darkness and fright, to whom Jesus would bring salvation through the Gospel of peace, self-sacrifice and His actions on the Cross, were similarly prepared to receive the Light through the cries of John the Baptist.
Like Jesus, John rattled a few cages. He upset the order. The people were quite familiar with cleansing through water through the already well-established rituals of purification. Up until that time, the Sadducees were the ones doing the baptizing – and there was a fee attached to it.
Who Is He?
John seems to be moving in on their territory – and hence in today’s Gospel faces an interrogation by the established authorities as to who he is.
Is he the Messiah? Is he Elijah? Is he the prophet raised up from among their own people who is to come into the world, a sort of successor to Moses, to whom they must listen (Deut. 18:15)?
No. He is none of these things.
He is the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord.”
In extraordinary humility, he deflects all attention and glory from himself, and sets the stage for the One who will come after him, who already is in their midst, for whom he is not worthy to loosen the sandals.
Just like Mary does at the Annunciation, when she is told that she will bear Christ – as we hear in today’s Psalm, which is Mary’s Magnificat – he allows himself to be used by God to point to Christ, and does not revel in self-accolades.
Clear Message
His message to the Sadducees, to the people of his day and to us today, is clear: put aside pretentiousness, self-importance and narrow-mindedness. Don’t get carried away with yourself.
Know who you are, and know from Whom you draw life, strength and hope – and apart from Whom, you cannot stand.
While John baptizes in water, it is the One who will baptize in the Holy Spirit.
John can only set this up. He is not the main attraction.
It is Jesus Christ alone.
Readings for the Third Sunday Of Advent
Isaiah 61: 1-2a, 10-11
Luke 1: 46-48, 49-50, 53-54
1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24
John 1: 6-8, 19-28
Father Panicali, parochial vicar at St. Mark and St. Margaret Mary parish, Sheepshead Bay, was ordained to the priesthood for the Brooklyn Diocese on June 3, 2017.