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Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons - 16 December 2018


Third Sunday in Advent

John answered them all, saying, "I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire'. (Lk 3:16)

Into the confusion of our world the voice of John comes this Advent like a sword cleaving things into two! Is this a fanciful image? I don't think so, not for any of us who have gone through the past frenetic week of present British and European politics, nor seen the turbulence of events in other parts of the world. Hanging over us all, unnoticed in the febrile atmosphere of societal and ecclesiastical tensions, and yes nastiness, for there is brutishness about, the fate of our planet edges ever closer to catastrophe!

Our national treasure, Sir David Attenborough said this in response to presentations by young people to the assembly at the UN meeting on Climate Change in Katowice Poland this December 3rd:"The world's people have spoken. Time is running out. They want you, the decision-makers, to act now. Leaders of the world, you must lead. The continuation of civilisations and the natural world upon which we depend is in your hands."(Katowice Dec 3 2018)

I detect the voice of John the Baptist in that phrase, 'Leaders of the world you must lead!' But I would also add, 'and you must also show contrition for the damage done', that goes for us all too! Do you find that civility and polite discourse have somehow evaporated in the Andy Warhol 'ten minutes of fame'? Too many people seem intent on having their personal say no matter what the consequences, grabbing attention via the instant media, and quite often disregarding convention that suggests perspicacity is a necessary ingredient in communication. John's warning and utterances were full of integrity, truth, rooted in God not gossip!

As we move nearer to the feasts of the Nativity and Theophany, a pause button needs to be pushed in our own lives. John warns, his voice is loud, but he also points to another who comes not in power but to baptize us in the purity of fire and with the Holy Spirit. Christ has come, but he will come again and must not find us idle in waiting, but active on the journey of faith. People are fragile, hurt, pained by so much injustice; worse still groups of us continue to destroy each other and our living planet! Our task is not to wallow in woe and misery, but to help others out of it! The Eucharistic Prayer begins with an admonition to: 'Lift up your hearts", we must 'lift them up to the Lord'.

How? I've one suggestion, start small! For me the Twitter, Facebook space is full of angry, nasty comments, many bordering on libel, because people do not think what they write has any wider effect, but it does. I've started, probably a lost cause, to try and gently point this out especially if a statement seems to be bordering on illegality, one recent example for me, was somebody declaring that Pope Francis was a criminal. But I've been called ignorant, simpleton, criminal, idiot and worse all is people who do not know or care who I or anybody else is. That is sloppy wordage, lazy, uncivil and cheaply discourteous too. Call out the Pope, call out me, anybody, but do it as we should want it done to ourselves, and those we love, with respect so that: "(Y) our kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near". (Phil 4:5) That perhaps is where I can end my reflection, remember the Lord is always very near, especially in the little ones and the stranger! The fire of Christ and the light of the Spirit burn with love not pain!

Lectio

Poem: John the Baptist by Malcolm Guite

Love's hidden thread has drawn us to the font,

A wide womb floating on the breath of God,

Feathered with seraph wings, lit with the swift

Lightening of praise, with thunder over-spread,

And under-girded with an unheard song,

Calling through water, fire, darkness, pain,

Calling us to the life for which we long,

Yearning to bring us to our birth again.

Again the breath of God is on the waters

In whose reflecting face our candles shine,

Again he draws from death the sons and daughters

For whom he bid the elements combine.

As living stones around a font today,

Rejoice with those who roll the stone away.

From Thomas Merton's Poem on The Quickening of John the Baptist

Cooled in the flame of God's dark fire
Washed in His gladness like a vesture of new flame
We burn like eagles in His invincible awareness
And bound and bounce with happiness,
Leap in the womb, our cloud, our faith, our element,
Our contemplation, our anticipated heaven
Till Mother Church sings like an Evangelist.


Fr Robin Gibbons is an Eastern Rite Catholic Chaplain for Melkites in the UK. He is also an Ecumenical Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.

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