First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11;
Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24;
Gospel: John 1:6-8, 19-28
Rejoice because the Lord is near, is the theme that permeates the entire liturgy of this Sunday. It is not a question of a superficial happiness or a passing excitement because Christmas is coming, but it is the joy of salvation. Salvation is glad tidings given to all the people of the universe and more particularly to the poor and lowly. The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete (meaning rejoice) Sunday inviting all Christians to rejoice at all times. It is a command taken directly from Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians, as in today’s second reading, to rejoice always because the Lord is near. It is a positive command, one that we are to keep at all times and in all circumstances. Today’s liturgy indicates that in the joy, salvation and a more just and human world are somehow interconnected. It is not the pursuit of human happiness and fulfilment, or of social justice, that brings salvation; rather, the salvation that comes from on high, enables us to be instrumental in bringing about a more just world and to find the joy that no one can take away. In the Gospel of today we learn the role of John the Baptist is to bear witness to Jesus. He tells the people that he is not Messiah and he himself is not worthy to untie the lace of his shoes.
In today’s Gospel Reading, the word of God tells us that God sent John the Baptist with a special divine mission, as a witness to announce the coming of the Light that is found in Jesus Christ. The poetic prologue to the Gospel of John is interrupted by the insertion of the reference to John the Baptist. This Gospel in fact wants to show the close relationship between Jesus and John but it does not give John the title the Baptiser. It is within the context of light and darkness that the reference to John is made. However, his purpose was clearly limited to one function, namely, to testify to the Light. He told his audience that he is not the light, but the one who bears witness to the light. Further John the Baptist testified that he was the voice crying in the wilderness, telling all those who came to him, to prepare themselves for the coming of the Lord. He proclaimed to the people a baptism of repentance by water, and gave testimony that the year of the Lord’s favour had now arrived. He told them that he not the Messiah was a prophet.
Life of John the Baptist, despite his sacrifices and hardships was full of joy that is if we define joy as a state of bliss over having or expecting something or someone that you love. In this sense Christianity is a way of life in Joy, which is not a passive waiting for the coming of Christ but an active participation in his presence. As Paul places before us the three pieces of good advice that summarizes our Christian life: rejoice, pray and render thanks. We rejoice in the glorious presence of God among us particularly in the Eucharist. We pray as Jesus did to keep ourselves in union with God in the Trinity. We express our gratitude to him who has placed on us multitude of gratuitous gifts.
We heard the word of God today. These beautiful texts we heard proclaimed to us in their totality remind us that true joy and happiness is to be found only in God. If we are not finding our joy and happiness in God we are under an illusion and sooner or later God will give us the painful grace of allowing that illusion to give way to reality. God is the answer. Only in God can we find true joy and happiness. Those who abandon God are on the road to sorrow and pain. Advent reminds us that the joyful answer to our problems lies in God. So when Jesus summarized the first three commandments as loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength he was really giving us a prescription for deep and permanent joy and happiness. Any unhappiness we experience is really an experience of the lack of God. God is the fulfilment of our anxieties and worries, of our needs, of our greed.
During the season of Advent we see John’s role that is very similar to ours. On the one hand, we come after Jesus and are the beneficiaries of his being among us, sharers in the life he has brought. On the other hand, it is our role to go before him, clearing the way so that he may come into the lives of other people. This is our apostolic, our evangelising responsibility. Like John, we are not the Light but we are called, by our baptism, to bear witness to the Light by all we say and do. This has to be manifested in our daily lives living as persons who prepare the way of the Lord. Again as Paul invites us to manifest the sense of joy in our heart and to rejoice in the Lord because he is coming and is close to us. The first reading through the Prophet tells us to proclaim freedom and bring about healing to the weary people.