First reading: Is. 11:1–10

On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea. On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious.

Second reading: Rom. 15:4–9

Brothers and sisters: Whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I say that Christ became a minister of the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, to confirm the promises to the patriarchs,  but so that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: Therefore, I will praise you among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name.

Gospel: Mt. 3:1–12

John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

In other words 

Fr. Joey Miras, SVD (Canada)

John the Baptist has been the embodiment of the message of repentance. Maybe we could go into why he has become repentance in person.

In the Scriptures, we read about the birth of John, how his parents lived righteously and blamelessly. His father Zacharias, after having served in the temple, came out unable to speak because of a vision. He was able to talk later after the birth of John. Elizabeth would be visited by Mary, and the two women would exchange praises to the Lord.

Next, John appeared preaching already in the wilderness. He wore a camel’s hair and survived on locusts. He seemed to be a powerful preacher because he did not mince words towards his audience, “You brood of vipers…”

It seemed John came from nowhere, or the story of his birth is something extraordinary, fit only for the birth of special people. What is not being said categorically is that John is a unique person with a message from God.

He came from a priestly family since his father was a priest. He must have grown into a sacerdotal milieu and most probably unconsciously absorbed Zacharias’ work or ministry. But did this influence the direction of John’s life? Maybe or maybe not. Nowhere was it mentioned that he trained or studied to become like his father. And he showed extraordinary courage and dynamism preaching throughout Judea. If he was not swayed by his father, then he must have been his own man. If his father was the influence, it became palpable later in his life, and preaching became his vocation. God’s ways must have been mysteriously active in him.

The inability of his father to speak until John’s birth was caused by his unbelief about Elizabeth’s pregnancy at an advanced age. Though he was a priest, he also had that rational mind not to be swayed easily by unexplained events. Maybe he needed more time to digest what was happening. He was a discerning person, a trait which perhaps John inherited as he pronounced judgment on cases and people during his ministry. An example of this was his forward judgment on Herod’s taking Herodias as his wife, whose hurt feelings and bruised ego perhaps led her to exact vengeance on John and have him killed. Zacharias paid quietly for his “unbelief” or doubts with dignity. John also paid dearly with his life for his “straight talk” towards Herodias and Herod.

Compared to Isaiah, a very prominent prophet in the Old Testament, John was “a voice crying out in the wilderness” with his message. There must have been something distinct in the voice of John. There was a certain quality that caught the attention of hearers. Was it a baritone voice, a tenor, or bass? Whatever it was, his voice was heard, and it was profoundly moving. But was it simply a voice? It was not merely the quality of the voice, the kind of pitch or tone pleasant and sweet to the ears. It was not a measured or organized pattern of sounds, tension, release, and strong closure meant to produce effects because his voice was not a musical one, not a piece of tonal music. There was also a message in the voice. The voice was not only heard, but a message was also understood. Could John the Baptist have been the New Testament version of being the medium as the message?