Cycle B - Year I:  

13 December 2020:  Third Sunday of Advent

(Liturgical Color: Violet or Rose)

Readings:

First Reading:        Isaiah 61:1-2. 10-11

Second Reading:   1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Gospel:  Please Read  John 1:6-8, 19-28

"Let us rejoice with expectant hope!"

We are now in the third Sunday of the Advent Season, and the theme of the liturgy is "rejoicing"  because we are mid-way in our advent pilgrimage, and thus so close to the big event that is Christmas day.

The Church celebrates today Gaudete Sunday, or the Sunday of Rejoicing.  Thus Gaudete Sunday is a joyous celebration. Although it takes place during the usually penitential period of Advent, Gaudete Sunday serves as a mind-point break from the austere practices to rejoice in the nearness of Jesus' coming.  

The readings 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."  

Now, 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)

In other words, John the Baptist was a witness to the light.  He was a prophet, but he was not the Messiah.  John's mission was to introduce Jesus and help people be ready for and recognize Jesus.

From the Gospel account we learn that the leaders of Israel show their attentiveness and expectation of the Messiah.  And yet the irony of it all, in spite of their expectation they did not recognize or accept Christ when He finally came.  And years later they even cried out against His claim to be the Messiah, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

In our generation today, we find ourselves in a similar position of waiting and watching.  Our Lord promises 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 need to be attentive to His coming and believe that our Lord doesn't abandon us.  More so, we look for the Lord during this pandemic and recent natural calamities.  

 So then we rejoice that our Lord Jesus is with us here and now.  But do we always recognize Him?

The Lord is with us in many ways:  we hear His voice in the official 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)  The Lord 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 with us in the least among us: "Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me."  (Mt 25:40)

Thus, 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 Holy Eucharist we encounter Him again in the most intimate manner.  Sometimes we fail to recognize Him in this encounter in the Sacraments because of lack of faith.

In sum, John's role is to bring people to Christ.  So is ours today.  We try to live our lives right so that people will be able to know through us that faith in Christ makes all the difference.

Lighting of the Advent Wreath:

We re-light the candles of Hope and Peace.  And now we light the pink Candle of Joy. May the Lord grant us the courage to experience in the hope of the Savior's coming: joy in the face of apathy, joy in the face of sorrow because of recent calamities and this pandemic, and joy in the face of uncertainty.  For our trust is in the Lord Jesus who will save us from all these. 

Let us also 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.  Let us pray fervently, anticipating with joyful hope the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ on Christmas Day.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!