Sunday, 14 December 2014
Third Sunday of Advent - Year B
St. John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church (1542-1591)
Commentary of the day
Saint Augustine : “He came for testimony to testify to the Light”
Jn 1:6-8.19-28.
A man
named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.
And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites (to him) to ask him, "Who are you?"
he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, "I am not the Messiah."
So they asked him, "What are you then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."
So they said to him, "Who are you, so we can give an answer to 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."
Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?"
John answered them, "I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie."
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.
And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites (to him) to ask him, "Who are you?"
he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, "I am not the Messiah."
So they asked him, "What are you then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."
So they said to him, "Who are you, so we can give an answer to 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."
Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?"
John answered them, "I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie."
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
Commentary of the day :
Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Sermons on the Gospel of Saint John, no.2, §5-7
In what way has Christ come? He appeared as man. But because he was a man such
that God was concealed within him, a special kind of man was sent before him
to make known that he was more than man, that he was the Messiah... Who was
he, this man who had to give testimony to the Light in this way? The man John
was truly remarkable, of great merit and outstanding grace, high above all
others. Admire him in the way we would admire a mountain: the mountain would
remain in shadow so long as the light did not come to envelop it – “He was
not the Light”. Don't take the mountain for the light; don't break yourself
against it, far less find help in it.
So what should we admire, then? The mountain, but only as a mountain. Rise up as far as him who lights up this mountain, which was erected to become the first to receive the sun's rays and to reflect them back to your eyes... We say of our eyes, too, that they are lights and yet, if we don't light the lamp at night or if the sun does not rise by day, our eyes are open in vain. John himself was in the dark before he was enlightened; he only became light through this enlightenment. If he had not received the rays of this Light he would have remained as dark as other are...
And what about the Light itself? Where is it? “The true Light which enlightens everyone coming into the world”? (Jn 1,9). If he enlightens everyone then he also enlightened John, through whom he wished to be manifested... He came for the sick of mind, for wounded hearts, for souls whose eyes are weak..., people unable to see aright. He covered John with his beams. By testifying that he himself had been enlightened, John made known He who enlightens, He who gives clarity, He who is the source of every gift.
So what should we admire, then? The mountain, but only as a mountain. Rise up as far as him who lights up this mountain, which was erected to become the first to receive the sun's rays and to reflect them back to your eyes... We say of our eyes, too, that they are lights and yet, if we don't light the lamp at night or if the sun does not rise by day, our eyes are open in vain. John himself was in the dark before he was enlightened; he only became light through this enlightenment. If he had not received the rays of this Light he would have remained as dark as other are...
And what about the Light itself? Where is it? “The true Light which enlightens everyone coming into the world”? (Jn 1,9). If he enlightens everyone then he also enlightened John, through whom he wished to be manifested... He came for the sick of mind, for wounded hearts, for souls whose eyes are weak..., people unable to see aright. He covered John with his beams. By testifying that he himself had been enlightened, John made known He who enlightens, He who gives clarity, He who is the source of every gift.
