Third Sunday of Advent, Year A – Gaudete Sunday - Nov 11, 2016
Readings: Is 35:1-6a.10; Responsorial Psalm Ps 146:6c-7.8-9a.9bc-10(R.cf.Is 35:4); James 5:7-10; Gospel Mat 11:2-11.
Theme: The Signs of Time and Imperative of Christ’s Coming!
Friends in Christ, the words of John the Baptist in the gospel (Mat 11:2-11) to Jesus through his disciples while he was in prison namely “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” appears scandalous. How can John, who was a forerunner of Jesus, be asking that kind of question? How can the person who gave tax collectors, prostitutes, soldiers and other categories of sinners the baptism of repentance in preparation for the coming one, whom he claimed was mightier than he, whose sandals he was not worthy to untie turn around to ask if Jesus was indeed the Messiah?
Well, we may be scandalised at the Baptist’s reaction and question but in reality, we are guiltier than John in many respects. What is our attitude to persecution, disease, sickness, death and poverty? How do we respond to the inability to get a job, pay our children’s school fees, house rent, PHCN bill or have three square meals per day? What do we make of the economic meltdown Nigeria is currently undergoing in the light of our faith?
Many parents are developing hypertension because Christmas is approaching and children are beginning to demand for new clothing, Christmas gifts and food and drink. That is not all, January is approaching and children will return to school. Many parents and guardians are asking, “God, do you care about our situation?” Like John, when we are faced with trials, tribulations and temptations, we tend to ask “Is our God alive? “Are we in the right religion?” “Is God still on the throne?”
The experience of John the Baptist tells us that God has no favourites. Besides, being his relation, John had worked tirelessly for the coming of Christ yet Jesus allows such a man to be imprisoned. When John heard about the deeds of Christ, he had to ask for a confirmation if he was the Christ in the light of his incarceration. Funny enough, Jesus does not give him a direct answer: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is he to who takes no offense at me.”
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, if we were in John’s shoes, we would expect Jesus to say “ Don’t worry, all will be well – you will be released immediately” but Jesus changes the narrative by not giving them a direct answer for John. Rather, He affirms that the miracles associated with his ministry are enough evidence that he was the Messiah. In fact he crowns it all by saying “And blessed is he to who takes no offense at me.”
We live in an age and time were believers associate a true Church of God with miracles and no suffering. Our liturgy challenges us to look critically at the signs of time in the light of Christ’s coming. It amounts to a single narrative to see only the rosy side of life while turning a blind eye to the thorns as well. Perhaps the sign we need most is the sign of the prophet Jonah namely, repentance; bearing in mind that our faith does not give us immunity to sin and suffering.
We have enough evidence that God is not done with us yet. Recession does not have the last word. Like Bishop Matthew Kukah would say, hope does not go into recession. We have no right to be angry with God in the wake of the current happenings in our country. Rather, God wants us to count our blessings as an evidence of his mighty works among us.
Rather than taking offense at God, Gaudete or Rejoice Sunday invites us to rejoice in the Lord. Gaudete, taken from Philippians 4:4-5 “Gaudete in Domino semper” (Rejoice in the Lord always) comes from the first word in Latin of the Introit, the entrance antiphon at Mass. Little wonder, Isaiah (Is 35:1-6a.10) in the first reading calls us to rejoice because the glory and majesty of the Lord are coming. He emphatically states “[we] shall obtain the joy and gladness” of the Lord and “[our] sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Such warm assurances position us for a better celebration of Advent as we await the fulfilment of God’s promises.
St. James in the second reading (James 5:7-10) admonishes us to establish ourselves for the coming of the Lord while noting that patience is key to a good Advent. “As an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord” he surmises. This means that we must blend the prophesy of the prophet Isaiah, the situation John the Baptist found himself, with the testimony of Jesus for a proper understanding of the depth of our liturgy. May God help us to bear with the qualms of this present life as we await the coming of His Son, through
Christ, Our Lord. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment