Patrick Comerford
We have passed the half-way mark in the Season of Advent, and the countdown to Christmas continues gathered pace. The week began with the Third Sunday of Advent (Advent III, 14 December 2025), also known as Gaudete Sunday, and last night was also the first night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
Matthew 21: 23-27 (NRSVA):
23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ 24 Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” 26 But if we say, “Of human origin”, we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.’ 27 So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Today’s Reflection:
We are two-thirds of the way through Advent, and yesterday was the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (14 December 2025), a day when the readings and prayers recall Saint John the Baptist.
The liturgical colour on Gaudete Sunay is rose or pink, adding a note of joyful anticipation, and we lit the third, pink-coloured candle on the Advent Wreath. In many churches and cathedrals yesterday, naturally, choirs sang Gaudete! gaudete! Christus est natus, an Advent carol that was a hit in the charts in England for Steeleye Span over 50 years ago at Christmas 1973.
Saint John the Baptist is recalled again in the Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Matthew 21: 23-27), when Jesus speaks once again about Saint John the Baptist and his authority to baptise and teach.
The religious leaders of the time approach Jesus one day in the Temple and ask him: ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ (verse 23).
Jesus seldom directly answers provocative questions when they are put to him, and in this case, as so often, he answers with a question of his own: ‘Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ (verse 25).
His questioners find themselves in a quandary. If they answer ‘from heaven’ or with divine authority, they may well be asked why they did not receive John’s baptism even though had come to see John baptising. Did they feel they had no need to be baptised themselves? If they had allowed themselves to be baptised, did they accept they were then sinful and the unclean?
On the other hand, if they answer ‘human’, they run the risk of offending the people who had no doubts about all this and who respected John as a prophet. They answer lamely, ‘We do not know’ (verse 27). And so Jesus refuses to reply to their question.
The Greek word for authority used here is ἐξουσία (exousia), which comes from the verb ἔξεστι (exesti) and refers to something that is lawful, may be done, is permitted or permissible.
The English word ‘authority’ comes from the Latin auctoritas, an abstract noun from the verb augere, to increase or to make bigger. The same verb gives us the word author.
A person with ‘authority’ is not merely someone who wields coercive power over others. The exercise of genuine authority is not to control or keep in line. Exercised properly, authority is being an agent in releasing the potential that is in people, to be an empowering agent.
Jesus does not wield coercive authority. He invites people to follow him; he came to serve, not be served, he came to lead people into the full development of all they could be and were meant to be. His authority is the authority of outreaching love.
How have I exercised authority in my own life – as a parent, a priest, a teacher, as a writer or journalist who may influence the thinking, the decisions and the actions of others? Is the world a little better, a little more loving because of what I say or do?
Today’s Prayers (Monday 15 December 2025):
The theme this week (14 to 20 December 2025) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘The Floating Church’ (pp 10-11). This theme was introduced yesterday with a Programme Update by Sister Veronica of the Community of the Sisters of the Church in Melanesia.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Monday 15 December 2025) invites us to pray:
We pray for all those seeking retreat at Tetete Ni Kolivuti. May they find rest, guidance, and renewal of spirit as they reflect and draw closer to God.
The Collect:
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
We give you thanks, O Lord, for these heavenly gifts;
kindle in us the fire of your Spirit
that when your Christ comes again
we may shine as lights before his face;
who is alive and reigns now and for ever
Additional Collect:
God for whom we watch and wait,
you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son:
give us courage to speak the truth,
to hunger for justice,
and to suffer for the cause of right,
with Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s Reflections
Continued Tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
