"Chaos for Christmas" Luke 3: 10-18; The Third Sunday in Advent, Year C

As the tempo of terror rises, as the menace comes closer, we look for answers. What next? What should we do now? This Third Sunday of Advent, in anticipation of Christ’s coming, it’s John’s turn to give us answers… not to counter immediate tactical threats… but how to live in times of terror and beyond.

We take inspiration from John’s eloquent and always applicable call to repent and prepare. To translate scripture into 21st Century action, John is telling us: Don’t be swept up in the traumatic events of the day. Live an examined life; get a grip on your purpose; compare it to your practice; correct your ways; comply with those of the Lord. You can spell it all out in just two sentences. It’s as simple and as complicated as: Give each day to God. He will give you back eternity.

David prayed: Keep me from paying attention to that which is worthless. What a perfect petition to guard us from the chaos that surrounds this Christmas. What to make of an evil that invades a Christmas luncheon and slaughters social workers bonding with their colleagues? What to make of Paris, Beirut, Syria, Iraq… and on and on? How easy it is to be to swept up in the chaos… to succumb to the fury of the moment. How human to rail against God for permitting evil to have its day.

Start the morning as close to him as you possibly can. Then consciously stay with him through the day. Ask him for serenity. Ask him understanding. He is always listening. He always answers. And the answer is always the same. Live in his love. Turn to his word:

The answer to today’s chaos is eternal salvation