3rd Sunday of Advent Year A (Gaudete Sunday): Homily by Fr Isaac Chima
Theme: Christ’s Mission and our expectations
Readings: (1st: Ish 35, 1–6; Ps: 145, 6–10; 2nd: James 5, 7–10; Gos: Mtt 11, 2–11)
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, the liturgical name for this third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday. It derived this theme from today’s entrance antiphon from the letter of St Paul to the Philippian (4:4), which says: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.” The word ‘Gaudete’ is the second-person plural present active imperative of the Latin verb ‘Gaudere’ which means ‘to rejoice’. On this Sunday, therefore, the church invites us with the words of St Paul to rejoice in the Lord always (Gaudete in Domino semper).
The church wants us to be in the mood of Joy because our redeemer is close to us, the celebration of the birth of Christ is very close. The third Sunday of advent sits at the middle of the period of advent; which means we have gone half-way in our preparation for Christmas. So, today, the church wants us to lighten our solemn and penitential mood with joy, refresh ourselves, regained our energy and march ahead towards Christmas. Symbolically, the church lightens the colour of the liturgical vestment of today from violet to rose. In many churches, priests will wear rose vestment instead of purple. Also, the third candle of advent, which is always rose in colour, will also be lighted today.
The mood of joy which this Sunday calls us to have can be seen radiating through all the sentences of the first reading of today. This reading offers us exactly the message of joy which the prophet Isaiah announced to his people in exile in Babylon when they were close to their liberation. He told them the good things that the coming of their liberator will bring into their lives and, then, urged them to be in the mood of joy as they wait for his coming. He told them that their savior and liberator will open the eyes of the blind, unblock the ears of the deaf. He will make the lame to leap like the deer and will loose the tongue of the mute. He will make the weak strong. At his arrival, the wilderness and dry lands be glad and blossom, and the glory of Lebanon will return. He will bring back the people of Zion to Mount Zion to offer praise to God.
The church is also telling us the same thing Isaiah told his audience. Dear friends, the coming of Jesus into our lives will always make a big difference. It will liberate us from the dominion of sin and shame, and restore to us the glory of the sons and daughters of God. The entrance of Jesus in every heart has a healing effect. Jesus fills every heart that received him with peace, love, and inner joy. He makes every heart that received Him whole; He heals us from all infirmities. It is because of these great things that Jesus will bring to us that the Psalmist of today implored Him to come to us and save us. So, let us join the psalm of today in saying: Come, Lord, and save us. Let the prayers of the psalmist of today be on our lips always because our world needs the intervention of God.
However, as we rejoice in anticipation of the great things the coming of the Lord will do in our lives, the first part of the gospel reading of today advises us against wrong expectations from the Lord. This reading told us about the doubt John the Baptist had about the personality of Jesus. Let us recall that it was John the Baptist that presented Jesus to the world as the Lamb of God who will save the world when Jesus went to him at the river Jordan for baptism. So, it won’t be wrong to assert that John the Baptist knew Jesus as the Savior. But in this reading, while John was in prison, he became a bit confused about the personality of Jesus. To clear his doubt, John sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the savior indeed. What could be the root of the confusion John had about Jesus?
Dear friends, the long and short of the origin of the doubt John had was that the conception he had about the Messiah was not what he saw in the ministry of Jesus. John the Baptist shared almost the same mentality the people of Israel had about the Messiah who will come from the house of David. They believed the Messiah will be a warlord who will wage war against the Roman army, wipe out all the enemies of Israel and restore the kingdom of David. However, the ministry of Jesus turned out to be that of peace, love, forgiveness and reconciliation. The reaction of many followers of Jesus was the feeling of disappointment; that of John was a big doubt. The doubt of John was more intense because he was in prison and was supposed to be liberated by the Saviour. But then, the response given to the disciples of John by Jesus showed that His ministry was doing exactly what the prophet Isaiah said about the mission of the Saviour. He told them: “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” So, Jesus’ actions were in line with the mission of the Father.
Dear friends, that feeling of disappointment with Jesus which some of his followers had when he was not working according to their vision of the savior has not disappeared from our world. These days, many people do not go to church because the Christian God is not a God that visits people with vengeance and wrath. Many people have stopped coming to church because they want a Jesus who will stop evil in the world by killing all their enemies. Many people have rejected Christianity because they feel that Jesus is weak. Many people have also made a return to paganism because they feel the devil will give quick answers to their problems. Many Christians pick and choose the church to attend according to the miracles they will receive; of course, the salvation of their souls is not in the plan. The economic hardship of today has made many Christians to develop the mentality of the Jews about the savoir: some want him to exterminate their enemies, but Jesus is not going to fight your enemies, He will rather undo what they have done and restore what sin has destroy in you; some want Him to grant them unprecedented promotions or breakthroughs in business as a sign of being their savior; some want Him to give them exotic material things (cars, phones, houses, etc) as a proof of His divine power; some have given Him conditions and are ready to follow the devil if those conditions are not realized.
Dear friends, as we rejoice in anticipation of the coming of Jesus, let us be mindful of what we expect Him to do for us and in our lives. He is a compassionate God. A God who forgives enemies and gives the wicked enough time to repent from their evil ways. He is a God who gives us material things that will help our souls to be saved, and protects us from things that will lead us to damnation. In the second reading of today, Saint James urges us to be patient with this our God until the coming of our Lord Jesus. On that day, he will reward the good and punish the bad. St James was speaking to his audience that was facing persecutions and some of them losing faith in God because He did not kill the emperors that were persecuting them. James reminded them of the importance of being patient with God. The church also calls us to be patient with God, because God is not done with us yet; He is still busy working in our lives everyday.
Peace be with you.
Fr Isaac Chinemerem Chima