3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Is 35:1-6a,10; Ps 146
Js 5:7-9; Mtt. 11:2-11
REJOICE FOR YOUR REDEEMER HAS COME
Today is the 3rd Sunday of Advent. It is also referred to as Gaudete Sunday. “Gaudete” is Latin which means “rejoice”. This Sunday we are called to rejoice!! This is the time in our Advent journey where we are called to rejoice because we are closer to our expectation than when we began. The liturgical colour for the day is rose or pink, a colour which stands for Joy.
The theme of Gaudete is clear from the readings for the day. The first reading describes the liberation and restoration that the Lord will bring to his people. The Lord shall restore the desert in such a way that it loses any trace or resemblance to its former state. The word of God says the desert shall “bloom with flowers and rejoice with joyful songs” (Is. 35:2). It means that the desert, a place of harshness and torment and grief shall now be filled with the tenderness and soothing fragrance of flowers. This will cause joyful songs in a place that was characterised by torment and grief. In our lives too this promise is fulfilled. Our desert lives will be turned over by the Lord. The things in our lives that seem dead and lost will be caused to bloom. The grieve and pain in our lives will soon disappear and we would be filled with joyful songs. May the Lord put songs of joy on our lips.
There is also a strengthening of the weak and the feeble. It is interesting what the word of God says. There will be strengthening for those who are weak in body and those weak at heart. This is the restoration of body that has been weakened by the dwelling in the “desert of life”. There is also hope for those who have almost given up in their struggles. The Lord will not only restore but also free our capacity to begin to do things we have never done before. He will heal the blind to see and clear the deaf ear to hear. What good news. This indeed calls for Gaudete.
The gospel deals with the expectation of the Jewish people. Their expectation of the Messiah is summarised in the preaching of John the Baptist when he says, “the axe lies at the root of the trees…” (Mtt 3:10). The expectation of the Jews in general and John in particular was for a political Messiah. This political Messiah will liberate them so they too will become a kind of super power like the others. But Jesus did not live up to that expectation. He acts in a totally different way. That is why John sent his disciples to enquire whether he was the one or they should wait for another.
The reply of Jesus is that I am already here and have began work. It is only by allowing Jesus into our lives that we see his power. He wants to be with us and in us (Emmanuel). The point of Jesus is this: God acts in our interest not to our expectations. He seems to tell John, “I am already here. I am turning lives around”. The true prison is not the one in which John is but the fight for truth and total faith in the Lord that he knows what’s best for us. It may delay but the lord shall surely fulfil his promise. It may not be obvious to us but God is already turning our destinies around for the better.
Jesus does not fault John for doubting, He praises him. It’s ok to doubt but keep hoping. The Lord will strengthen you. This is the kind of hope that James refers to in the second reading when he says we should be patient for the Lord’s coming as the farmer waits for the rain. God’s rain shall come surely. May it begin to rain your deserts, weaknesses and infirmities even as we rejoice in his promise today.
GAUDETE!!!! GOD BLESS YOU.
By Fr. Delight Arnold Carbonu
