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Today we celebrate the liturgy of the third Sunday of Advent. Third Sundays of Advent are traditionally referred to, in the Catholic Church, as Gaudete Sunday – Joy Sunday.The term is inspired by the message and mood of the day's Liturgy. The word, “Gaudete”, is taken from the opening antiphon of today which reads: “Gaudete in Domino semper, iterum, dico: Gaudete!…Dominus prope” – “Rejoice in the Lord always, again, I say, Rejoice! … the Lord is at hand” (cf. Phil. 4:4-5). This antiphon summarises the mood and message of the Liturgy of today - Joy, rejoicing.
In Advent, we are encouraged to reflective and do penance in order to prepare well to receive the coming Saviour. Why then, does the Church, through St. Paul, invite us her children, to be happy and rejoice? Why should the theme of rejoicing dominate the entire atmosphere of today's celebration? The answer is very simple: the reason for our profound happiness, though, we are still in the season of Advent is that our period of waiting (for the Lord) is nearing its end. Our Lord is now very close to us. Our Saviour is very near. “Near” in this sense, does not mean being a short distance away; maybe, just “around the corner” or “outside the door”. It is much deeper and involving than these. It means “Emmanuel” - God with us, here and now; he is in our midst. And this can manifest in many ways. So, by implication, we should be intoxicated with joy, for the Lord is with us. Happiness means being near Jesus. When the Lord is in the midst of his people, there is always joy; there is relief; there is no more fear; hope abounds and the people are saved from the evils that trouble them.
The prophet, Isaiah, in the first reading of today, calls on almost despondentIsrael to rejoice, blossom and be courageous for her God is coming to save her from the material historical predicament she was passing through. His presence would bring her good tidings. He then, goes on to describe the wonderful scenario that would characterize the reign of this great king among his people.
As the early Christians lived in expectation of the immediate second coming of Jesus Christ amid great persecution in a hostile society, James, in the second reading, encourages them to continue waiting with patience and great faith for the day of Christ. He uses the image of a farmer who waits patiently for the precious fruits of the ground until it has the autuum and the spring rains, to exhort them to steadfastness in the Lord even in their trial moments. In a like manner, He also calls on us, the Christians of today, to patiently wait in faith for divine intervention at the appointed time in our present life challenges, just as the farmer waits patiently for the working of nature. The waiting might be painful and demanding but it is rewarding.
John the Baptist was courageous. While in prison, though, in a tempting moment and great agony, he still remained strong in faith. He never wavered. In today's Gospel reading, John, who was in prison, heart all that Jesus was doing and sent his discipline to him with the question: “Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?”
Mathew did not tell us why John was imprisoned. But, according to Luke (cf Lk.3:19-20), John was put in prison by Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the great, for reproving him for taking Herodias, the wife of his brother, Philip. It might be pertinent to note that Herod Antipas might have taken after the evil ways of his father, Herod the great, the wicked and much hated usurper, who manipulated the Roman authorities into recognizing him as the official king of the province of Judea in 31/30 BC. While on the throne, He killed some of his sons and officials perceived as possible rivals. And, in his cruelty, according to Mathew's account, he slaughtered all the male children in Bethlehem up to the age of two in a bid to eliminate Jesus Christ. At his death, however, the kingdom was divided among his three remaining sons y the Romans. These princes included: Archelaus, Philip and, of course, Herod Antipas, who was in charge of Galilee and a part of Trans-Jordan, where John the Baptist was ministering.
John the Forerunner of Jesus Christ
John the Baptist started his preaching before Jesus Christ. He was a great prophet of God sent to prepare the way for the messiah. And so, he called the people to repentance through baptism. As a true prophet of God, John spoke the truth courageously to each man's conscience irrespective of who they are. In the course of his ministry, he stepped on the toes of people of power and influence, and was incarcerated.
John the Baptist knew well enough who he himself was. And the identity of Jesus Christ was very clear to him too. When his own identity was inquired about by the priests and levities from Jerusalem, John openly confessed that he was not the messiah but rather a voice crying out in the wilderness … (cf Jn. 1:19-28).He was the one who pointed out Jesus as a redeemer to his disciples saying:“Here is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of world! This is he of whom I said;'After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he was before me” (cf. Jn. 1:29-30)
So, he could not have doubted about who Jesus is. John might have had some difficulty with the way Jesus Christ, the supposed messiah, was behaving, because, it was completely different from the way he himself conceived and preached it. He spoke of the messiah as one who would come with a winnowing fork in his hand (cf. Mt 3:12) to clear his threshing floor and to gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire (cf. Mt. 3:12). He presented the messiah as a severe judge, and related him to the wrath to come”, saying that “the axe is lying at the root of the trees…to cut down and put into fire any tree that does not bear good fruits” (cf. Mt 3:7, 10).
But, the above picture of the messiah is different from the way he heard Jesus was carrying out his ministry. Jesus, being the concrete manifestation of and the channel of God's love for man, brought the judgement of God in a humble and gentle manner, portraying God as a merciful and loving judge. John's difficulty in understanding this cannot be said to be tantamount to a doubt. A typical Jew of his time had a politico-social perception of the expected messiah; an understanding contrary to the true nature and mission of Jesus's own kind of messiah. However, Jesus,through the message he sent to John through John's disciples, resolved the difficulty when he made it clear that he was the messiah, in whom the prophesy of Isaiah was fulfilled. Thus, he said: “Go back and tell John what you are seeing and hearing. The blind are seeing again, the lame walking, lepers being cleansed, the deaf hearing, the dead being raised to life and the Good News is preached to the poor” (cf. Mt. 11:5).
Are you the Messiah?
But one might ask: If John did not doubt, why then did he send his disciples to Jesus while in prison to make such inquiries about Jesus? It could be that John wanted to clear the doubts of his own disciples about Jesus' true messiahship by sending them to him to hear and see for themselves, and be convinced. He might have done this for their own good. Remember, this people were earlier worried that Jesus was growing more popular than their own master and so had to report such “ugly” development to John (cf. Jn.3:25-26). But, John responded: “No one can receive anything except what has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves are my witnessea that I said, 'I am not the messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease (cf. Jn. 3: 27-30).
John knew who he was and who Jesus is too; there was no confusion. He was neither disappointed nor lost faith in Jesus even in his predicament. While it might be true that John's imprisonment and the manner of Jesus' messianic mission may have been both surprising and disappointing to John, John did not do or say anything that seriously suggests a lost of faith or taking of offense at the Lord. He accepted his destiny with faith and so, was crowned with eternal reward.
How About Us?
We might, as well, ask ourselves: What kind of messiah are we expecting?; A “sharp-sharp messiah? A miracle working one? One that would remove our problems and answer our prayers automatically immediately we shout, “holy ghost fire” and say, “it is not my portion?” No! We should allow God to be God for us in his own way and pace. Remember, Christ has asked us to carry our cross daily and follow him. It demands sacrifice and patience.
The question is. “What is our reaction when, in difficult moments, our prayers seem unanswered and our hopes and expectations of and from God appear unfulfilled. John, in today's gospel, is imprisoned for preaching the Good News and standing by the truth. So, like him, we sometimes in our lives, get stuck between a rock and a hard place, because of some natural causes or even for daring to take the right path and do the right thing - forstanding by the truth. We, then feel like asking the Lord: Are you truly God? Are you going to help me or will you leave me helpless in this prison/situation? Are you concerned at all that I am a good Christian who attend morning masses everyday and participate actively in other Church activities? What have I done Lord? Why is this my portion? Etc. But we are being encouraged in today's Liturgy to always be strong and patient and hopeful in the Lord in such tempting situations.
As Jesus told John's disciples, if we ourselves look around, we will see his messianic interventions in the lives of people around us; in our homes parishes, towns, places of work, and elsewhere. These are signs that God is always there for his people. He intervenes in every moment of our lives. He has and will never leave us dejected. He is our God, Messiah and Salvation.
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