Saturday after Gaudete, the Third Sunday in Advent
Posted on December 19, 2020 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 3:10-20 (NKJV)
3:10 So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”
11 He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”
12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”
14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”
So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”
15 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, 16 John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18 And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, 20 also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.
Devotion
John’s hearers hear how the axe is laid at the root of the trees to cut down all trees that do not bear good fruit. The people ask what they are to do. Repenting and believing in the coming Christ who will take away their sins, they are to bear the fruits of repentance. Tax collectors are to collect no more than appointed, no longer using their vocation to enrich themselves at the expense of others. Soldiers are to be content with wages and not use their vocation to intimidate others. What do we learn from this about the fruits of repentance?
The fruits of repentance are the virtues opposite of the sin committed. Paul demonstrates this in Ephesians 4:28, “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” The thief is to labor. The one with an adulterous eye is to pursue chastity. The false witness is to speak the truth and defend his neighbor’s reputation. The covetous person is to be content with his daily bread.
We also see that fruits of repentance are born in our vocations toward others. That is because the fruits of repentance—sorrow over sin and faith in Christ’s forgiveness—leads us to love our neighbors and work for their well-being. The fruits of repentance are revealed as we walk in the Law of the Lord, and “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:10).
Prayer: Lord, we beseech Thee, give ear to our prayers and lighten the darkness of our hearts by Thy gracious visitation; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
