COMMENT ON THE LITURGY OF THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT
Collect
Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and [the]* dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee; Grant that the ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at thy second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit ever,* one God, world without end. Amen.
Readings
1 Cor 4:1-5; Mt 11:1-10
Comment
At the beginning of the fourth chapter of the first letter to the Corinthians Paul outlines the nature of God's minister. Far from being an alter Christus he is a subordinate, an administrator, who dispenses a treasure not his own. Thus also in the second letter to the Corinthians the Apostle states: "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Cor 4:7).
Before Christ, head of the Church, the position of pastors is that of absolute and humble dependence. By the grace of God, they receive the necessary gifts of knowledge, of speech, of compassion for men; from him the inner vocation. The Church cannot but recognize these gifts and this vocation and welcome with gratitude those whom the Lord sends.
The work to which the ministers consecrate their strength belongs to God. From God comes the blessing that makes the work of the workers effective. Ministers must give an account of what they have done to God. The pastor is for the church, not the church for the pastor. The function entrusted to the ministers of the gospel is that of administrators in large houses. They dispense their master's goods, and have the supervision and care of the other servants to whom they must distribute the food.
The apostles must not take into account either the appreciations or the hostilities received, entrusting themselves solely to the divine judgment that will come at the end of time, on the day of the Lord. Our ability to be aware of sin is clouded according to Paul; for this reason, he says "I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me" (1 Cor 4:3-4). We do not know the depths of the human heart: neither those of others, nor ours. For this, we are required to have absolute faith in God's grace and in the sanctifying power of his Spirit.
However, this does not exempt us from cultivating a great sense of responsibility in putting evangelical teaching into practice, and to this are called both those who consecrate themselves in a special way to the pastoral ministry and those they teach.
In the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus applies to himself a passage from the book of Isaiah (61:1) by sending to say to John the Baptist that the gospel is proclaimed to the poor (Mt 11,5); where we must understand not only those who have scarce material means but every man with a humble heart and an ear capable of listening beyond the noise, the seductions and the illusions of the world.
The poor were also those who until then the Pharisees and the great doctors of the Law had neglected in their preaching. The good minister of the gospel must bring the Word to every man, even to those whom society does not take into consideration, and "Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me" Jesus affirms (Mt 11:6). Blessed are those who accept his message, and know how to grasp its profound richness.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
