Imagining the Lectionary: A very private conversion and a very public statement (Advent 3C)

Imagining the Lectionary:
A very private conversion and a very public statement (Advent 3C)

Reflection accompanying image “House with solar panels ”

“I’m baptizing you here in the river. The main character in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place
everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”. (Luke 3:16-17 The Message)

Ultimately conversion is a very private matter. It is both utterly radical and entirely intimate. It happens behind the closed doors of our selfhood, screened from prying eyes in the domestic inner space of our being. There, in the singular sanctum of our mind, we make our choices. It is there that the process of conversion is initiated. And it is that personal decision space that John the Baptist is able to reach into and address in such positively powerful and persuasive ways. So much so that the stage is set for the Spirit of God to transform John's promises into personal realities. 

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