Following is the text of meditation by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, marking the  third Sunday of Advent C, dated December 15, 2024: 

On this third Sunday of Advent, we are confronted with the figure of John the Baptist.

The passage from Luke's Gospel that we read today (Luke 3:10-18) describes to us not so much the character of the Baptist, but rather the movement that arises among the people when he begins to proclaim the Word of God that had come down to him in the desert (“The word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.”)  (Luke 3:2)

At the center of this episode is a question that appears three times: “What should we do?” (Luke 3:10,12,14)

John is asked this question by very different groups of people who lead different lives and whose styles are far removed from one another: there are crowds, there are tax collectors and there are soldiers who all ask the same question: What should we do?

Behind this question lies above all an expectation: the expectation that a new path will open up, something new for one’s own life. The fact that so many different people come to John with the same question makes us think that it is a question that concerns everyone, that dwells in the heart of every human being. Everyone is searching for a better life, for a fullness that is never fully achieved, for a way of true life.

Often behind this question lies the experience of dissatisfaction: to be happy, we always lack something, but we do not know what. Hence the question: what should we do?

John's answer is disturbing. No one is asked to do extraordinary things and no one is asked to change their lives. Not even those whose lives are potentially ambiguous, like the tax collectors (“Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you”), ( Luke 3:13) or those who are subject to violence, like the soldiers (“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.” (Luke 3:14)

We often live under the illusion that the fullness of life is to be sought elsewhere, in something extraordinary that is somehow outside our normal lives, that what we have is wrong or not enough, that it can lead to nothing. For John, however, this is not the case: there is no situation or state of life that cannot open up to the newness of the gospel. It’s not about looking for who knows what else, nor is it about starting from scratch every time, but about standing in the reality of each day in a new way, looking at life differently again and again and finding the fullness of life in your own reality.

For John, what we are missing is not a goal we have to achieve or something we absolutely must have. What we lack is the knowledge of how to share what we are and what we have without burdening the lives of others, but on the contrary trying to make it as easy as possible (“Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise”. (Luke 3:11) We must begin to see ourselves in new relationships that are not primarily about protecting ourselves or promoting self-interest, but about sharing our lives freely. In this way, life becomes an expectation, the space in which we build the world to come together. And that is the place where the Lord comes.

For John has come to proclaim this above all: that the Lord is coming (“John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”. (Luke 3:16)

Jesus comes because He Himself is the first to share with us all that He is, all that He has, His divinity, His life as the beloved Son: He shares everything with us and keeps nothing for Himself.

So, it is first and foremost about welcoming the One who has shared everything with us, to experience the fire that burns away what has no consistency in us, no roots, does not correspond to our truth.

Those who go to John with their question of what to do will return home with an answer that is greater than their question.

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Luke 3:16) They have not only discovered that there is a new path for their lives; they have also discovered that on this new path the Lord will come and He Himself will transform them with the fire of love, a fire that, like the burning bush of the book of Exodus, will never go out until it has reached every person with their questions, with their desire for life.

+ Pierbattista