Third Sunday of Advent

Fr Dominic’s Homily

Today is Gaudate Sunday. It’s the day that we light the rose candle and the priest wears rose coloured vestments. The only other time that this happens is half way through lent on Laetari Sunday. Gaudate means Joy and Laetari means rejoice.

So why are we joyful on this Sunday? well it’s to remind us that during this rather serious and sombre period of Advent we prepare ourselves spiritually for the return of Christ – not just as a tiny baby in a manger in a stable but also as a glorious king at the end of time. We rejoice that the birth of Christ is near at hand and Christmas will soon be here.

Today’s readings centre on questions of who people really are and what they are actually doing.

The first reading is from Isaiah and it is the passage that Jesus actually uses to describe who he is and why he has come when he reads from the synagogue in Nazareth.

The spirit of the Lord has been given to him for God has anointed him.

He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken;

to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison; to proclaim a time of favour from God

Although Isaiah was 500 years before Jesus – he uses this inspired passage to help indicate exactly who he is and why he has come into the world.

Then we have the Psalm that you may recognise as Mary’s Magnificat prayer. It is the exultation that Mary gives when she visits her cousin Elizabeth in answer to how and why she as a lowly handmaid of God has become involved in God’s great plan of salvation. It’s an expression of Joy.

Next we have a letter of St Paul to the Thessalonians. Now this letter gives advice from St Paul to the Thessalonians on how to prepare for the second coming of Christ. For the arrival of his kingdom. He helps them prepare for God by way of a few bullet points.

Really these are answers on how to prepare for Advent. Paul says have continual joy, keep praying and give continual thanksgiving regardless of the situation you find yourself in. This is how we prepare our hearts for God.

Now is that our experience as Christians? Do we have continual joy?

Do we pray ceaselessly? Well – maybe we struggle to give the Lord a few minutes of prayer now and then! Do we continually give thanksgiving to the Lord regardless of the situations we find ourselves in?

We must rejoice, pray without ceasing – in other words turn our whole lives into a prayer - and always give thanks regardless.

Finally we have the Gospel from the apostle John in which Priests and Levites ask John the Baptist just who he really is and what is he actually doing with his camel hair, wild honey and locusts. With his living in the desert and with his preaching and baptising.

John the Baptist is a witness to speak for the light. One who will testify on who the person of Jesus really is. He is not the Messiah himself, just one who can prophesy on behalf of him.

And we hear that John the Baptist describes himself as a voice that cries in the wilderness saying ‘Make a straight path for the Lord.’ Last week we spoke about how that encourages us to prepare our hearts so that the Lord can enter our hearts more easily without encountering resistance.

You and I are also sent into our world to witness to God. And we can do this by the way we live and what we say. Others will always notice this because we are all designed to receive Christ into our lives whether we know it or not. So any example we set in the Lords name will touch their souls whether they like it or not.

But how can we do this when life can be so difficult? Pope Francis has said that the real joy of a Christian comes not from what our lives are right now - but from what Jesus has promised to us in the future.

He says we must be courageous in suffering and remember that after that suffering, when the hardships are over, we will have peace and joy. After the darkness the sun always rises.

So Advent is the time of preparation for God entering into our humanity and into our hearts. Let us prepare well like John the Baptist and be good witnesses to those around us.