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Third Sunday of Advent Mass Readings
First Reading: Isaiah 35:1-6A, 10
Responsorial: Psalm 146:6-10
Second Reading: James 5:7-10
Gospel: Matthew 11:2-11
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121519.cfm
https://www.deaconrudysnotes.org/
Happy Gaudete Sunday! Today marks halfway through Advent, and so we celebrate because the Messiah is near! It’s like when you’re dieting or fasting, and you give yourself a “cheat day” – a day to pause. We can use the break in our diet, for example, to celebrate what we’ve accomplished so far. Maybe this break can help us see where we’re trying to get to and so motivates us to keep pushing ahead.
Maybe we can look at Gaudete Sunday in the same way – a break from all the introspection and self-reflection we’ve been doing this Advent. So many of the readings we’ve listened to this Advent have encouraged us to be patient. Indeed, our second reading from James today counsels that we should be patient with each other as well, not complaining or gossiping about people. Let’s be honest, after a while all this waiting can be quite frustrating! So, a break is a healthy and welcomed respite.
We pause to remind ourselves why we are going through this Advent so that we can face the time to come with fierce determination to welcome Jesus home – to welcome him into our lives.
But who is Jesus? Is he really who he says he is? That’s precisely the question that John the Baptist seems to be mulling over to himself while he’s in prison. Did he really have doubts? Remember, this is after John baptizes Jesus and after he witnesses the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon him. Can he really after witnessing what he saw have doubts?
Well of course a very correct way of looking at John the Baptist is that through his question which he gave to his disciples to give to Jesus might have been designed to help lead them to Jesus, because that’s the heart of John’s ministry, isn’t it? He’s supposed to prepare the way for the Lord by giving the people knowledge of salvation, right? We find that in the Canticle of Zechariah Luke 1:76-77. So, can he really be having any doubts?
Let’s follow where that question leads for just a little bit. Can a person have doubts after having an encounter with Jesus Christ? Well, the short answer is yes, a person can. I see it all the time and I’ve experienced it myself, too. How many of us, for example, when someone close to us passes away hasn’t looked up and wagged your finger to heaven saying, “You’d better be there”?
Perhaps having doubts or second thoughts is natural – a normal part of being a human being. I mean, doubts must creep into our thoughts from time to time. Normal…but is it healthy?
G.K. Chesterton wrote, “There is the prevalence of a sort of casual and even conversational skepticism, making even the idle thoughts of an idle fellow busy in the interests of doubt and despair. I mean that a man, without thinking at all, will throw off some flippant phrase which is always (by a strange fatality) a sort of feeble revolt against all traditional truth.”
Do you mind if I read that again? “There is the prevalence of a sort of casual and even conversational skepticism, making even the idle thoughts of an idle fellow busy in the interests of doubt and despair. I mean that a man, without thinking at all, will throw off some flippant phrase which is always (by a strange fatality) a sort of feeble revolt against all traditional truth.”
Okay, as per usual, Chesterton delivers a full course meal in a small package! There’s so much here to discuss, but I want to focus in on a few points. Chesterton says, “I mean that a man, without thinking at all…” What does he mean by that?
Well, idle thoughts are different from actual thinking because, as Chesterton tells us, “Thinking means connecting things.” Idle thoughts then are disconnected. Doubts are random. There is no thinking when there is no philosophical foundation producing the ideas. Heavy, right? Too often so many of us experience a buffet of superficial thoughts and we seem to be getting so much better at creating the superficial all the time especially with the help of reality TV, social media and cable news programs. We keep our thinking on the surface and rarely if ever go down into the deep.
Perhaps Holy Mother Church presents this reading to us today to suggest that if we experience doubts, we’re in good company. So, by pausing from the austerity of Advent for a moment, we can find the courage to lay down our doubts. We are reminded that it is to the Messiah that our lives are directed. Jesus is the Messiah – the one has come to heal us of our wounds – perhaps they’re physical impairments or physical wounds, or perhaps they are deep emotional wounds. These wounds – this pain can totally consume our lives and prevent us from being present to the people around us, like our families and our friends. These wounds can prevent us from becoming the people God made us to be.
So, on this Gaudete Sunday, we are reminded that we need to let Jesus purify our lives. We need to get to reconciliation and invite in the Holy Spirit. We need to give up our pain and allow ourselves to be healed. Yes, we are getting excited about celebrating Jesus’ birthday on the 25th, but we pause today to celebrate with great joy for the coming of Jesus Christ.
Homework! I encourage you to reflect on the following three questions this week – yes three questions. It’s hard not to receive extra homework when Chesterton is about!
- First, do I have doubts? If yes, invite the Holy Spirit in through prayer to help you lay down your doubts.
- Second, do I have any wounds – any pain that distracts me from time to time. If yes, ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to lay your wounds down at the foot of the cross so that you can get on with the life God has given you.
- Third, ask yourself, “As I look around me now, can I sense that light, that holy presence here, and invite God’s joyful light into my life?”
I think by doing our homework, we, as disciples, can re-commit ourselves to the task of joyfully preparing for the coming of Jesus. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Now go make disciples!
One quick announcement before we part. Beginning in 2020, we’re adding a second day of reflections! Every Wednesday I’ll be sharing a reflection on some aspect of the Church’s teachings. If you have questions that you’d like for me to answer or thoughts about topics I should tackle first, please drop me a line to rudy @ deaconrudysnotes .org. I’ll work through your suggestions first, and I’ll supplement by going through the Catechism of the Catholic Church on weeks when I don’t receive any. Sound good? Good!
The Lord be with you. May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!
References:
- Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel Of Matthew. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2014.
- Lectio Divina Of The Gospels. Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2019.
Catechism Links:
- John the Baptist, 523 http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p122a3p3.htm#523, and 717-720 http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p1s2c3a8.htm#717
- Signs of the Kingdom, 547-549 http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p122a3p3.htm#547
Mass Readings:
First Reading
Isaiah 35:1-6A, 10
The desert and the parched land will exult;
the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers,
and rejoice with joyful song.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return
and enter Zion singing,
crowned with everlasting joy;
they will meet with joy and gladness,
sorrow and mourning will flee.
Responsorial
Psalm 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10.
R. (cf. Is 35:4) Lord, come and save us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD God keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Lord, come and save us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD gives sight to the blind;
the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD loves the just;
the LORD protects strangers.
R. Lord, come and save us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations.
R. Lord, come and save us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Second Reading
James 5:7-10
Be patient, brothers and sisters,
until the coming of the Lord.
See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,
being patient with it
until it receives the early and the late rains.
You too must be patient.
Make your hearts firm,
because the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another,
that you may not be judged.
Behold, the Judge is standing before the gates.
Take as an example of hardship and patience, brothers and sisters,
the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
Alleluia Isaiah 61:1 (Cited in Luke 4:18)
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Matthew 11:2-11
When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ,
he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question,
“Are you the one who is to come,
or should we look for another?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
As they were going off,
Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John,
“What did you go out to the desert to see?
A reed swayed by the wind?
Then what did you go out to see?
Someone dressed in fine clothing?
Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces.
Then why did you go out? To see a prophet?
Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom it is written:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way before you.
Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”