+REJOICE WITH JOYFUL SONG 3rd Sunday of Advent 2025
The last words of our first reading this morning, my brothers and sisters, capture the spirit of today’s celebration. “Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; they will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and morning will flee.” Let us be aware of the great work that God is accomplishing in our midst even as this time in our world is unstable may place heavy demands on our time and energy.
The mystery of the Incarnation gives true and lasting freedom to our hearts. No matter what we are being asked to do, especially during this time of heavy shipping of our and others’ products, it is all a reminder of the gift of God’s coming among us. After all, the sending and receiving gifts are but a faint reflection of that Gift of God’s very own Son to us as our very life and final fulfillment.
As I first read our gospel, I wondered how could it be that John the Baptist who leapt in the womb of Elizabeth his mother when she heard the voice of Mary, could begin to question if Jesus was the one to come. And wasn’t it John who baptized Jesus when the heavens open and a voice was heard saying this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. John may have had his own ideas of who the long-awaited Messiah would be, especially as he sat alone in prison. And perhaps this is why this narrative is given us so that we may take a more careful look at our own expectations.
Jesus telling John’s disciples to go and tell John what they hear and see, the blind regaining their sight, the lame walking, lepers cleansed, the deaf hearing, the dead being raised, has great relevance for our own lives and all time. God’s loving care for the poor, the outcast, the marginalized is still a huge obstacle in the hearts of people everywhere and among Christians. As we take a careful look at what is happening in this country and throughout the world is the cause of widespread conflict. Were nations to see all our sisters and brothers as God sees them would totally transform our world and bring an end to countless conflicts.
And I know that if I am honest with myself, I don’t have to look very far to see the lame, the leper, the deaf, the poor, the marginalized, those in need of having the good news proclaimed to them. All this human fragility is right within my own heart and in the hearts of all those with whom we live, work and pray in community or in family life.
And yet. it is precisely to such that our Savior comes. Those dressed in fine clothing, those swayed by pleasure and selfish desires lose sight of their real humanity and end up becoming inhumane in their thought and conduct. Living family life or in a monastic community puts us in close touch with all our human frailty and it is here that our Incarnate God comes as Savior. As we accept one another’s weakness, live with compassion and kindness, the eternal Word becomes incarnate again and again. And we know and experience a loving presence that transforms our lives.
And I’m wondering if this isn’t the message of the Eucharist we celebrate, where the very common and fragile elements of bread and wine are changed into the very Body and Blood of our glorified Lord. He who sits at the very right hand of our God and Creator of the whole Universe transforms a bit of ground wheat into his very loving and ever life-giving Self. Only an unfathomable love could begin to do this and invite us to share in such a feast.
Isa 35:1-6a,10; James 5:7-10; Matt 11:2-11