Dec. 11, 2022 – Isaiah 35:1-6; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11
Today, the third Sunday of Advent is also called “Gaudete Sunday,” Gaudente meaning “Rejoice!” Previously, Advent was a much more rigorous penitential season. At this time, in ancient times, fasting and abstinence were proposed in the church, however, this Sunday was meant to be a relaxing break and one was to rejoice in the coming of the Redeemer. As a sign of this, the penitential purple of the vestments is replaced by a kind of pink or rosy color. The same thing happens for the third Sunday in Lent. The penitential state of mind is an appropriate to prepare us to welcome the coming of the Lord. And, even if we do not fast, we hold penitential services with the Sacrament of Reconciliation during the days leading up to Christmas.
The first reading, taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah, is a joyful hymn that brings men and things together: creation is transfigured; salvation invests man even in his physical existence. Isaiah prophesies in this hymn that even the desert will rejoice as the Israelites pass through it to repatriate, and it will do so by covering itself with flowers. This joy of the desert will be joined by both Lebanon with its cedars and Carmel and Saron, for they too will see the manifestation of God’s glory.
In this grand manifestation of God’s glory there is no longer room for fear, pusillanimity and distrust since the time of divine reward has come. For the infirmities of the body will disappear: blindness, deafness, stuttering and muteness. The cause of such a change of affairs will happen thanks to the fact that in the midst of a land that was once arid and desolate, fruitful waters will suddenly erupt.
Moreover, a holy way will open in the desert, through which only the righteous will pass, since all iniquity has been swept away by God’s judgment. This level road is visible to all even though it can be traveled only by those who are morally pure.
The prophet is joined by the Psalmist and he, too, cries out to all that the Lord “renders justice to the The second reading, taken from the letter of James, is an invitation to constancy, even when the events above us, as at the present time, seem apocalyptic.
For we must have constancy. The ‘apostle James asks us! for ” the blind recover their sight, the crippled walk…to the poor the good news is preached, and blessed is he who is not scandalized by me.”
The Gospel presents us with

John the Baptist in prison, in a place of segregation and darkness. (vv. 2-3)
In this darkness that clouds his vision, John cannot understand who Jesus really is. He thought he knew, but now in that darkness, everything loses meaning, and even the face of the Messiah appears faded and confused. John, the first to recognize the Christ, now in hearing the news about Him, is dazed. Perhaps what he hears is not what he expected to hear. Jesus behaves in a way that is strange to him. If He is indeed “the one who is to come,” why does He not behave as such?
The Baptist had always described a strong and severe Messiah in punishing sinners. Jesus, on the other hand, welcomes and forgives them. In the prison John realizes that perhaps he cannot
understand God’s plan. Should he embrace the idea that God behaves differently than he expected? Or does he simply have the wrong person.
Jesus does not respond directly, but tells John’s envoys to report what they have seen: signs of the presence of God’s Kingdom. Their task is to be missionaries: they are to bring their testimony to John. Having met Jesus, having seen the signs he performs and having recognized him as the Messiah, they are to bring this good news to those who do not yet know it, so that they too can meet and recognize him. Quoting Isaiah, Jesus presents his mission not to judge and condemn but as welcoming and forgiving. Isaiah lacks any reference to lepers, whom Jesus mentions instead: this is an absolute novelty that fits into the groove of tradition. Lepers were considered cursed by God, unapproachable and hopeless slaves of death, but salvation came for them too.
Jesus is one who scandalizes, but in a positive way. His call is strong, and it is possible that not everyone is ready to accept it. When we close ourselves off to the message of salvation, when we fail to see the signs and understand their meaning, when we fail to understand that God does not behave as we would like, then we may be scandalized by Even though he is experiencing a time of darkness and confusion, Jesus describes John as a true prophet and a great man. His task is to accompany the people to the threshold of the promised land. In v. 14 Jesus will say, “And, if you wish to understand, he is that Elijah who is to come.” If Jesus is the Son of Man, John is the most important of the “born of women”: an exquisitely Semitic way of saying to indicate living beings, who come into the world through that mysterious door that is their mother.

The Old Covenant and the New Covenant have a different measurement system. They are different worlds. The greatness of the Baptist is nothing in the face of the smallness of the Kingdom. John remains a prophet, the greatest of the OT, but by now Jesus has brought a new way of relating to the Father, a salvation beyond expectation.
John was of firm character in his way of life and in abiding in the Truths, something he paid for with imprisonment and martyrdom. Even in prison he talks hesitantly with Herod. John teaches us to combine steadfastness of character with humility “I am not worthy to untie the strap of the sandal” (Jn. 1:27); “He must increase I, on the other hand, decrease” (Jn. 3:30); he takes pleasure in knowing that Jesus baptizes more than he does, because he considers himself only “a friend of the bridegroom” (Jn. 3:26).
For good workers…
We are called to prepare the way for Jesus to come into our hearts, and also to prepare the hearts of other people so that they, too, can “experience the joy of salvation”-that physical and spiritual healing that we all long for, and that alone gives true meaning to our lives.
The Gospel tells us that God’s work is a work of inner transformation. The Messiah does not come by forcing everyone to obey him so he will set all things right.
“The righteousness that the Baptist placed at the center of his preaching is manifested in Jesus primarily as mercy. And the doubts of the Forerunner only anticipate the bewilderment that Jesus would later arouse by His actions and words. One understands, then, the conclusion of Jesus’ response. He says, “Blessed is the one who finds no cause for scandal in me!” Scandal means “obstacle.” Jesus therefore warns about a particular danger: if the obstacle to belief is above all his acts of mercy, this means that one has a false image of the Messiah” (Pope Francis).
Fr Joby Kavungal RCJ