Cycle B - Year I:  

14 December 2014: Third Sunday of Advent 

(Liturgical color: Violet or Pink)

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Feeling the joy!

The theme of the liturgy for this Sunday is "rejoicing" because we are mid-way in our Advent pilgrimage and thus so close to the big event that is Christmas day.

On the third week of our Advent walk, the Church celebrates Gaudete

Sunday or the Sunday of Rejoicing. The entrance antiphon in the Mass begins with St. Paul's exhortation: "Rejoice in the Lord always!" (Phil 4:4) Indeed the readings for this Sunday tell us there is reason to rejoice as we prepare and await with joyful expectation for the coming of Jesus, our Lord and Messiah.

In the Gospel account, John the Baptist appears in the Jordan River as "the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord." The Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask John if he might be the Messiah. But John answers, "I am not the Christ... but there is one among you whom "

you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie." (Jn 1:20, 26-27)

Thus, we know from the Gospel account that the leaders of Israel show their attentiveness and expectation of the Messiah. And yet the irony of it all, despite their expectation, they did not recognize or accept Christ when He came. Years later they would even cry out against His claim to be the Messiah, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

In our own generation today, we find ourselves in a similar position of waiting and watching. Our Lord promised to come to us --and not only at the end of the world but also through the course of our lives. So then, like the leaders of Israel, we should be attentive to His coming.

We rejoice that Jesus is indeed among us here and now.  But do we recognize Him?

Indeed our Lord is among us in many ways: We hear His voice in the teaching authority of the Church, like He promised the first disciples: "Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me." (Lk 10:16) He comes to us in the smallest among us: "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me." (Mk 9:37) And the Lord is here in the least among us: "Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." (Mt 25:40).

We have reason to rejoice because Jesus dwells not only among us but also within us, by grace. He comes to us most especially in the sacraments. At baptism we receive the sanctifying grace that fulfills His promise to dwell within us. In our reception of the Eucharist we encounter Him again and again in the most intimate manner. But sometimes we fail to recognize Him in this encounter in the sacraments because of lack of faith.

Let us, therefore, pray for stronger faith to seek our Lord Jesus Christ where He promised to be: in the Church, in the small and weak of society, and most of all in the grace we receive from the sacraments.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!