20221211 CHRISTIAN HOPE FOUNDED ON CHRIST REQUIRES PATIENT WAITING AND ANTICIPATIVE JOY
11 December, 2022, Sunday, 3rd Week of Advent
First reading |
Isaiah 35:1-6,10 © |
God himself is coming to save you
Let the wilderness and the dry-lands exult,
let the wasteland rejoice and bloom,
let it bring forth flowers like the jonquil,
let it rejoice and sing for joy.
The glory of Lebanon is bestowed on it,
the splendour of Carmel and Sharon;
they shall see the glory of the Lord,
the splendour of our God.
Strengthen all weary hands,
steady all trembling knees
and say to all faint hearts,
‘Courage! Do not be afraid.
‘Look, your God is coming,
vengeance is coming,
the retribution of God;
he is coming to save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
then the lame shall leap like a deer
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy
for those the Lord has ransomed shall return.
They will come to Zion shouting for joy,
everlasting joy on their faces;
joy and gladness will go with them
and sorrow and lament be ended.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 145(146):6-10 © |
Come, Lord, and save us.
or
Alleluia!
It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever,
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free,
Come, Lord, and save us.
or
Alleluia!
It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger
and upholds the widow and orphan.
Come, Lord, and save us.
or
Alleluia!
It is the Lord who loves the just
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
Zion’s God, from age to age.
Come, Lord, and save us.
or
Alleluia!
Second reading | James 5:7-10 © |
Do not lose heart; the Lord's coming will be soon
Be patient, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. Think of a farmer: how patiently he waits for the precious fruit of the ground until it has had the autumn rains and the spring rains! You too have to be patient; do not lose heart, because the Lord’s coming will be soon. Do not make complaints against one another, brothers, so as not to be brought to judgement yourselves; the Judge is already to be seen waiting at the gates. For your example, brothers, in submitting with patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | Is61:1(Lk4:18) |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The spirit of the Lord has been given to me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 11:2-11 © |
'A greater than John the Baptist has never been seen'
John in his prison had heard what Christ was doing and he sent his disciples to ask him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?’ Jesus answered, ‘Go back and tell John what you hear and see; the blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor; and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me.’
As the messengers were leaving, Jesus began to talk to the people about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the breeze? No? Then what did you go out to see? A man wearing fine clothes? Oh no, those who wear fine clothes are to be found in palaces. Then what did you go out for? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet: he is the one of whom scripture says:
‘Look, I am going to send my messenger before you;
he will prepare your way before you.
‘I tell you solemnly, of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.’
CHRISTIAN HOPE FOUNDED ON CHRIST REQUIRES PATIENT WAITING AND ANTICIPATIVE JOY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISAIAH 35:1-6,10; JAMES 5:7-10; MATTHEW 11:2-11]
In different ways, all of us are overwhelmed by problems in life, be it emotional, psychological, physical, financial, or spiritual. If we feel weighed down by our problems, then Advent brings us hope. Without hope, one cannot continue to live. It is hope that continues to sustain us. Hope gives us purpose in life, especially when we feel like giving up. We are called to be people of hope. Only people who inspire hope can help those who are in despair.
The Good News in today’s liturgy is that there is hope. The encouragement from Isaiah is so consoling. God spoke through him saying, “Strengthen all weary hands, steady all trembling knees and say to all faint hearts, courage! Do not be afraid. Look, your God is coming, vengeance is coming, the retribution of God; he is coming to save you.” Indeed, today, we have confidence that God is near. He is coming. He is coming with power to deliver us from our enemies, within and without. When He comes, He will put things right for us. He will heal us and enlighten us. He will come with His retribution, that is, He will justify us and see that all injustices come to an end. Such is the message of hope that comes from the expectation of the Lord’s coming.
But is this hope real? Or is it merely wishful thinking? Quite often, we feel like giving up not only on life but also on God. Some of us have been praying for years for the Lord to deliver us from our straits and adversities. But He does not seem to hear our prayers. He seems to be blind to our predicament and deaf to our cries. If we are feeling that way, then, surely, we can identify with the Israelites who were waiting in exile for deliverance. They longed for a new exodus from the desert of life so that they could once again sing for joy.
In the gospel too, we have John the Baptist who sent his disciples to ask Jesus whether he was the Messiah that was to come. He did this most probably for the sake of his disciples rather than for himself. As he was in prison and could meet his final end, it was important that his disciples be convinced that Jesus was indeed the Messiah that he previously pointed out to them so that they could follow Him. So they too, needed confirmation and assurance that the Lord had come.
What, then, is the ground of Christian hope in our patient waiting? Jesus is the basis for our hope. This was what Jesus told John the Baptist’s disciples: “Go back and tell John what you hear and see; the blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor; and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me.” In saying this, He is not simply asking us to recognize the miracles that He did, but He is asking us to have faith in His person.
But why should we have faith in Jesus as the Messiah? Jesus is the embodiment of the kingdom of God. In Jesus, the kingdom of God burst into the world. Through His preaching and healing miracles, including the works of exorcism, Jesus identified Himself as the one who would restore humanity to wholeness. In fact, in the signs given to John the Baptist regarding the healing of the lepers, the blind and the death; the raising of the dead all indicated that the works of the Messiah far exceeded the expectations of Israel and hence called for faith in Him as the Son of God.
So today, we are called to open our eyes to see how the Lord is working in our daily lives. Quite often, we are oblivious to the fact that the Lord is already at work in us. St James gives us the analogy of the farmer. We cannot see the plant growing but it is certainly growing each minute. In the same way, we cannot quite see that our prayers are changing us or helping our spouse or loved ones to change. Within a short span of time, the change is certainly not noticeable. But we can be certain that God is at work in us slowly, but surely. Indeed, when nothing seems to be happening, then things are happening. God is often most present when He is not tangibly seen and experienced. Like the farmer, He works in hidden but in sure ways. Indeed, St James says, Jesus “the Judge is already to be seen waiting at the gates.” He is at the door of our hearts and we are outside looking for Him.
If we still cannot see the invisible workings of the Lord in our lives, then we must be patient. St James’ Christian community was impatient in the face of suffering. The exhortation given to them was “Be patient, brothers, until the Lord’s coming… Do not lose heart, because the Lord’s coming will be soon.” Indeed, we are called to be patient and not to lose heart. We are invited to imitate the virtues of patience and perseverance as exemplified in the sufferings of the prophets “who spoke in the name of the Lord” or in the patient waiting of the farmer. So we must be patient in the situations we are in. We must be patient with our fellowmen even in situations of injustices at work in family and personal relationships or in sickness, trusting that God will make things right for us.
Patience is a sign of faith. Indeed, true faith is tested and known only in adversities and sufferings. When we are well and strong, we cannot be sure that we have faith. But true faith is shown when we are down and out and at the end of our tether. Impatience, conversely, is a sign of self-will. If we cannot wait, it simply means that we want to take things into our own hands. We do not want God to help us.
How then can we hope patiently and expectantly? Like St John the Baptist, we must enter into the wilderness to listen to Him. We must ask what is lacking in our hearts. We must consider what the Lord wants of us. Only in silence, in prayer, and especially in fasting, can we come to hear the voice of the Lord.
Through prayer, silence and fasting, we learn how to confront our sinfulness and ourselves. Because of sin and selfishness, we are unable to walk in the light and continue to remain in bondage to our anger, greed, possessions and hurts. Sin is the cause of all human illness. Salvation is not only of the soul, but the body and mind. It is because of our sins that our body is weakened, since the spirit affects the body and the body is the window of the spirit. Not being right with God, we walk in darkness, in falsehood, instead of truth and freedom. And the irony is that we all know what is our real problem, but we are not ready to face it. Instead of looking squarely at our spiritual disorder, we skirt around it and thus become overwhelmed with our difficulties. We avoid hearing ourselves by being involved in all kinds of activities. This is particularly true during the Christmas season. Many of us are so caught up with the material preparations, shopping and merrymaking that we extinguish the voice of God speaking in our hearts. Yet what is most needed is to spend time listening to the source of the emptiness in our hearts.
But it is not enough to be aware of our brokenness, for that would only make us sad, depressed and discouraged. It is equally necessary that we also encounter the love and mercy of God. As the responsorial psalm tells us, God sets prisoners free and gives sight to the blind. Through moral conversion and spiritual healing which comes through forgiveness, we come to know who we are and who God is. In knowing our sinfulness and ugliness, we realize the need to change; in knowing the forgiving and faithful love of God, we are healed and strengthened to walk the way of the Lord. In this way, we are saved.
Yes, God is going to free us from our prisons of misery. He wants to give us a new exodus. We must let go of our hurts, unforgiveness and sinful life. Repentance during the season of Advent is the way to allow the Lord to come into our hearts. When He comes, we will be filled with joy. For when the Lord lives in our hearts in the power of the Spirit, He will enlighten the eyes of our minds and through His Spirit of love give us the inner freedom of living for Him and from Him alone.
Hence, today, we are filled with joy. Faith entails that we must anticipate the Lord’s coming in the future today. We are called to rejoice now as if He is already here. And He is here the moment we welcome Him into our hearts by giving up sin. That is why today is traditionally called Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of rejoicing. The knowledge that the Lord is coming should stir us to be ready to receive Him, now and more fully at Christmas, and fully at the Second Coming. By living the life of the kingdom, we experience the joy of God’s presence here and now.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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