MOVE!
LK 3:10-18
Third Sunday of Advent
December 13, 2015

Humanity needs to STAND UP AND MOVE towards solutions to the environmental crisis that threaten the well-being of future generations. World leaders need to STAND UP AND MOVE together, as seekers of peace, in order to quiet the terrorist threats to our common security. Our Church needs to STAND UP AND MOVE in order to restore trust and confidence lost in recent years. Our parishes need to STAND UP AND MOVE and aggressively take up the call to evangelize to a generation which appears deaf to the Good News. Families need to STAND UP AND MOVE towards the dinner table, in their home, so as to discover the joy and sanctity of family life. Married couples need to STAND UP AND MOVE towards each other, rather than searching for opportunities to be apart. Individuals need to put aside the remote, give the computer a rest, and STAND UP AND MOVE so as to lower blood pressure, sugar levels, weight, and increase energy and enthusiasm for life. The Advent message is loud and clear and relevant to every area of life…especially our spiritual life…STAND UP AND MOVE!

But even those wise enough to listen to the echo of John the Baptist’s voice, and STAND UP AND MOVE, tend to join their voices to those of John’s followers…asking: WHAT SHOULD WE DO? WHERE SHOULD WE GO? WHAT IS EXPECTED OF US? I wonder if possibly the Gospel softens his response. Is it possible that he fired back something like: WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT SHOULD I DO? ISN’T IT OBVIOUS?

After all, don’t we all know, without asking, what we need to let go of…what we need to change…fix…heal…forgive…so that we are able to STAND UP AND MOVE towards Christ? While Advent is not technically a penitential season, it’s hard to STAND UP AND MOVE TOWARDS CHRIST when we let anything weigh us down.