General. This is a Sunday full of joy for we have now passed the austerities of the first two weeks of Advent and are now joyful that the Lord’s coming is near. Our joy can be realized as from this Eucharist, when we become one with him in his body, receiving his holy Spirit within us as a sign of his bond with us. This bond will be the main reason for our keeping ourselves in him, and God in us, or rather with us, in fulfilment of His name "Emanuel".

Zephaniah. This is a psalm of joy to Sion. The Lord has revoked His wrath and now promises better days for Jerusalem, which is not to fear any more. Fear is most of the time the bane of many of us and this fear shows a clear lack of trust in God. The Word we now receive is that the Lord God is in ‘your’ midst and He is a powerful Savior. It is He Who will take up for you that which you should be doing until you learn how to be joyful just as He is.

Philippians. St Paul repeats the same words to us as Zephaniah. Rejoice, the Lord is near! Do not bother to pass on your worries to God through prayers, supplications and thanksgiving. The secret is not to worry about anything (in short, not to have fear) and to leave everything in God’s hands, whom you should trust blindfoldedly. After all, that is what faith is all about, trusting God the same way as you trust your earthly father, putting all your being in His hands. This shows that faith is not a matter of reasoning or intelligence, but a matter of feeling (sentiment) and trustworthiness in your heavenly Father.

St Luke. John the Baptist goes down to brass tacks in interpreting how to live the commandments in real life, giving something of a summary of the early social teaching of the Church. He was mistook for the Messiah, but John spoke in no uncertain terms about whom the Messiah would be and what to expect from his coming. John’s baptism was made with water only, but that of Jesus who was to follow him, would be more forceful as it would be in the Holy Spirit and with fire. Water and fire are the symbols of Baptism and Confirmation, the two sacraments of initiation into a fully-fledged Christian life which recognizes the Resurrection (of Christ and of ourselves) as its kernel point.

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