Scripture Reflections Seeking Understanding

 This week there is a totally different tone to Advent for most of us.  Last Sunday we celebrated Gaudete and our liturgy focused on the joy that the fulfilment of God's promise in the incarnation of Jesus brings us. In my own parish Church on Sunday morning this joy was incarnate in the form of a toddler, arrayed in Gaudete pink, climbing the steps of the sanctuary and dancing throughout the sacred silence after communion.  In that same spirit of joy the Jewish community gathered together to celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah - the festival of light. A festival that was once described to me by a Jewish friend as one of the light striving to drive darkness form the world. Of the embodiment of the words of Deuteronomy that  “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore, choose life, that you and your descendants may live." And then the events of Bondi unfolded.  And amidst the outpouring of grief, for the victims (may their memory be a bless...

A few months ago, one of my god-daughters celebrated her 18th birthday. The invitation asked everyone to dress in something with a bit of sparkle, with one stipulation - no pink! Except for the birthday girl.  I have to admit that this was a bit of a struggle for me - I have a number of pink options in my 'good casual' wardrobe. But it was her day to stand out.  This Sunday we celebrate Gaudete - the Advent celebration of JOY that is characterised by the  pink candle and rose coloured vestments. It is meant to stand out in the midst of the penitent, self-reflective season to remind us of what we are gathered for.  The liturgy itself begins with the words Rejoice, for the Lord is near.  So why in the Gospel for this Sunday does John ask,  ' Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?' Actually, it occurs to me when I read it in context that John doesn't ask the question himself - he sends his disciples to Jesus to ask. And i...

This week a voice cries in the wilderness, ' Prepare a Way for the Lord ,' as Elizabeth and Zechariah's son is re-introduced as John the Baptist.  With his camel hair garments and diet of locusts, John is portrayed as an outsider. But the crowds flock to him nonetheless - 'from Jerusalem, all Judea and the whole Jordan district.' It's no wonder the Pharisees and Sadducees have come down to see what is happening and move with the crowd.  And it is this which sets up the delivery of the key message of this Sunday's Gospel - REPENT!  As the outsider, John challenges the leaders of the people with, frankly, violent images of fire and axes laid to the roots of trees. But he doesn't say that their destruction is inevitable. The alternative is for them to repent.  The common understanding of repentance is being sorry for what you have done, but in the language of the Church repentance is about more. It is about change, and more specifically a change of heart....