Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we come very close to the time and beginning of the Christmas season which is just in two days time or so, all of us are ever reminded of why we all celebrate Christmas in the Scripture readings that we have heard. We heard in this day in particular of the messenger that the Lord had sent to us in order to proclaim the coming and appearance of His Saviour, that is none other than St. John the Baptist, the Herald of the Messiah, who prepared and made straight the way and path for the Lord. Later on, we will discuss why this is truly very important for us to reflect upon what this holy servant of God had done and its significance to our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Malachi, who was one of the final prophets to appear to the people of God before the time of the New Testament, approximately four centuries or so before the birth of Christ our Lord. The prophet Malachi spoke about the coming of the Messiah, and also the messenger whom the Lord would send ahead of His Saviour to prepare the way for Him. This messenger and herald that the Lord would send to His people was St. John the Baptist, whom the Lord sent to call of His people to come to Him and repent from their sins and wickedness. There was that long wait and expectation of the coming of the Messiah among the people of God, who had been promised the coming of God’s salvation from prophets to prophets.

The Lord spoke of this servant of God through Malachi as the one who would help to lead the people of God through a process of purification, so that they may all indeed be ready and prepared to welcome Him when He comes again, as the world was still full of sins and evil. Hence, through St. John the Baptist, the one who was prophesied to come as the Lord’s messenger, God would work His wonders among His people, calling all of them to repentance and to turn themselves away from the path of sin and evil. St. John the Baptist came into this world so that when the Lord came, He would have a people that had been touched by the call to repentance, and had been reminded of their sins and the need for them to be forgiven from those sins.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the moment when St. John the Baptist himself was born, which was miraculous as the child himself was born of a barren mother who had been way past childbearing time, and then the occurrences around his birth was no less wonderful and amazing, as his father, Zechariah whose doubt had caused him to become dumb and mute, was able to speak again the moment he wrote down the name of the child, which the Angel of God had told him in the moment when he was told of the good news of the coming of the Lord’s Herald. Thus, through that moment, we can see how the Lord truly began the time of His saving grace, beginning from St. John the Baptist who proclaimed to the people of God, after a long period of silence from the days of Malachi, that the Lord was finally about to come.

That is why today, as we all gather together to prepare ourselves further for the time of Christmas which is coming really soon, all of us are reminded of the need for the realignment and reorientation of our lives, our whole focus and emphasis especially in Christmas and all of the things that we celebrate so that in all of them, we may once again put the Lord, our God and Saviour at the centre, instead of ourselves and our own selfish desires, ambitions and all the other things that may prevent us from realising the true meaning and joy of Christmas, that is in Christ, Our Lord. Too often we have allowed the many temptations, sins and evils of this world to mislead us down the wrong path.

We have often allowed for the comforts and pleasures of this world to lead us astray. This is also reflected in our way of celebrating Christmas, which often has lost its meaning and focus. Instead of celebrating the joy which we have at the salvation and reassurances that God had brought unto us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, we have ended up focusing so much on the festivities and the celebrations that we often forgot why we even celebrate Christmas in the first place. As we continue to approach Christmas, let us all hence do our best to rediscover this true meaning and joy that we ought to have in Christ, Our Lord and God, the One in Whom we are all called to focus our attention on, in thanking Him for all that He had done for us.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of St. John of Kanty, also known as St. John Cantius, a Polish priest who was remembered as a great and holy man of God, a dedicated priest and servant of God, as well as as a great and wonderful teacher of the faith and sciences. He was also well remembered for his great generosity particularly towards the needy and the poor, and also among the students who studied at the university where he was teaching at the time. St. John helped those who needed his help and showed his great dedication and love both for God as well as for his fellow brothers and sisters, an example we can well emulate and follow in our own lives in this world, as someone who place God and his fellow men and women ahead of himself.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be ever more committed to God and His path, and that as Christians, may our lives be truly worthy of Him, in loving and caring for one another, and in modelling ourselves upon Christ’s own examples so that we may always be full of love and compassion for our fellow brothers and sisters all around us. May our Christmas joy and celebration be truly about Christ and not about our own selfish desires and greed, unlike how we often celebrated it all these while. May the Lord continue to guide us especially as we come towards the joyous celebration of Christmas which begins after tomorrow, and may He bless our every good efforts and endeavours in all things. Amen.