Daily Gospel Reflection for December 17, 2023: Third Sunday of Advent

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Reflection by Kathy Mallery Schober

John the Baptist is such an interesting person, such a bold personality.

When my children were young, we used to celebrate his feast day in June by molding and baking locust-shaped breads and dipping them in honey. We would read his stories and play in the “Jordan River,” a kiddie pool in our yard. My children and neighbors loved pretending to be John the Baptist.

This Advent, we should all do our best John the Baptist impersonation. Not by eating bugs and yelling in the desert, but by doing as John did, pointing to Jesus and doing our best to “Make straight the way of the Lord.”

John was so filled with the Holy Spirit, that even before he was born, he was celebrating Jesus- leaping with joy as pregnant Elizabeth greeted pregnant Mary. As an adult, the Catechism describes John as “the voice of the Consoler,” bearing witness to the Light.

When we stop to think about it, John was living out Jesus’ Great Commission even before it was given: going out to preach and baptize.

So, again, let us make John our role model for Advent. Let us leap for joy at the thought of Jesus. Let us abandon comfort to answer God’s call in our lives. Let us help to lay a path for others to reach Jesus. Let us recall the joy of Baptism and pray for those who are entering the Church. Let us point the way to Jesus and proclaim Him our Savior. Let us tell others of the teachings and love of Christ. Let us testify to the Light!

Ponder:

How am I currently like John the Baptist, and in what ways should I grow to be more like him?

Pray:

Holy Trinity, open my heart this Advent to better see how You are calling me to point to Jesus. Then make me joyful and bold like John the Baptist so that I may bear witness to the Light in the deserts and darkness in which I find myself.