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Greetings, SBT Readers:
"An unbearable tragedy." Thus commented Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu upon learning that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had mistakenly shot and killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza. Unable to distinguish between friend and foe, between Israeli and Hamas combatants, the IDF apparently shot first and asked questions later, having perceived three young men as "threats." But if IDF mistook their own people for terrorists, one has to ask what other mistakes have been made. Perhaps the fact the unarmed victims were males made them a threat, or perhaps they were so emaciated from weeks of captivity that the soldiers assumed they were Gazans. This, in turn, suggests that anyone -- regardless of age or gender-- on the streets of Gaza can be treated as a threat and be disposed of accordingly. Women, children, the elderly, those with disabilities, babes in arms...
This is what war does: it kills empathy and unleashes a murderous fury intent on revenge. Forget Hammurabi's "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"-- when the "rules of war" are replaced by "anything goes," military combatants are driven by an unholy passion to humiliate, terrorize, torture, pillage, rape and destroy. It's what gives rise to crimes against humanity that include the burning of food and medical supplies as a way of maximizing suffering. It's what fuels future violence, ensuring that the cycle of retribution extends from one generation to the next, spilling across borders to extend its bloody legacy!
How far we are as a world from all that the Prince of Peace represents! How easy it is to ignore the shocking testimony of journalists, often purchased with the price of their own lives-- to date, at least 63 have been killed in the Israeli-Hamas conflict! How much more comfortable it is to distract ourselves with all the gift-giving and partying that are part of the Advent-Christmas season! As we move closer to the celebration of Christ's coming, may we pray for peace, keeping vigil with the victims of war everywhere, promoting peace wherever we happen to be, and shining the Light of Christ into the darkness...
Advent Blessings!
Elizabeth
PS Please see my flyer regarding my upcoming course on Transformational Coaching. If you know any Ministers, Spiritual Directors, Life Coaches, or Spiritual seekers who might be interested in this course, I would be very grateful if you would share this link with them:
Transformational Coaching
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Link to Readings
A man named John was sent from God.
He came to testify, to testify to the Light,
so that all might believe through him.
He was not the Light
but came to give witness to the Light.
And this is the testimony of John.
When the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests
and Levites to ask him,
“Who are you?”
He admitted and did not deny it,
but admitted, “I am not the Christ.”
So they asked him,
“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
Finally, they said to him,
“Who are you, so we can answer those who sent us?
What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘make straight the way of the Lord,’”
as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Jn 1:6-8, 19-28
The prologue to John's Gospel, Jn 1:1-5, is so familiar and so poetically powerful that it is easy to be carried away by the rhythmic beauty of the text: "In the beginning was the Word..." We find ourselves understanding the text on an emotional level but may not see its implications for John the Baptist's message unless we pause to reflect on what it is claiming. The first five lines, in fact, are essential for understanding the Baptist's mission -- and also for approaching the gospel for the Third Sunday of Advent, 2023.
There is so much we miss with the omission of these hypnotic lines. The text boldly and authoritatively asserts that the Word has existed from all eternity, with God and as God, as the Creative Energy through which all things were made, including humankind, as the Light that shines in the darkness and which cannot be extinguished... My paraphrase lacks the haunting cadences of scriptural translations but it provides, in plain language, the background to John the Baptist. He is the emissary of the Word that is co-eternal and one in Being with God; he prepares the way for the coming of that Light which is Word, which is God, into a world darkened by sin and chaos.
Also omitted in the lectionary are verses Jn 1:6-19. These lines explain how the Word came into the world but encountered rejection and hostility. This theme is more suited to Holy Week than to Advent, but one important point is lost: that the Word, the Holy One, gives those who believe in him the power to become children of God -- to be born again, spiritually, into grace and truth.
So what does John the Evangelist mean when he claims that John the Baptist came to testify to the Light? Today's Gospel focuses on this question but omits some of the very lines that hold the key to the importance of John's testimony. John's task is to open people's hearts so that they may see the Light and accept its message of hope, reconciliation, forgiveness, and healing; he invites them to reject the darkness that holds them captive, to renounce sin, and to prepare themselves for Jesus' baptism of fire. He serves as the midwife of their spiritual rebirth; he is the guide who helps them re-enter the Promised Land of their relationship with God; and he is the prophet of Good News.
Darkness and chaos seem more prevalent today than at any time in human history. Our capacity to destroy ourselves and all living beings, the horrific impact of war, the devastating effects of climate change, the epidemic of violence -- all this weighs heavily on the soul of the world as well as on our psyches. It is difficult to be positive or to be Light-bearers at a time when all seems dark-- and, yet, this is precisely what God asks of us. If we cannot testify to the Light, who will? And if the "Good News" of Jesus' Birth no longer sets the world on fire with Love, what kind of destructive conflagration threatens humanity in the future? These are hard questions but they are what Advent demands of us.
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