Gaudete Sunday!

​Gaudete Sunday…
The third Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of Joy. It’s called Gaudete Sunday and today’s Mass begins with the opening antiphon: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” The theme for this weekend is joy and           encouragement. We light the Rose Candle and rose vestment, a sign of joy.
The prophet Isaiah, in the first reading, encourages the exiled Jews in Babylon to believe that God is    going to save them and transform their lives. The desert shall blossom; the blind, deaf, lame, and dumb will be healed; the ransomed of the Lord will be returning with singing to Zion. Isaiah promised them a new exodus and gave them hope. The assurance of this second exodus is chosen for Advent because both Exodus events foreshadow the coming of the Messiah.
In the Gospel of Mathew 11:2-11, when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, and he knew the messianic prophecies, so he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” He knew the prophecies, and it looks like Jesus quotes our first reading (Isaiah 35:4-6), telling John’s disciples that the prophecies are being fulfilled before their eyes, indicating the kingdom of God has arrived. We see similar prophecies in the book of Isaiah 26:19; 29:18; 61:1-2. The people are rejoicing, because they can see, hear, talk, and walk. They are healed and restored      physically, emotionally, and spiritually. They are rejoicing.
As John’s disciples left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning 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.” John the Baptist’s ministry recalls Malachi 3:1 “Now I am sending my messenger-he will prepare the way before me, and the lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple; the messenger of the covenant whom you desire-see, he is coming! says the LORD of hosts” As in Isaiah 40:3 (Matthew 3:3) the messenger is the Lord’s forerunner.
Malachi’s prophecy is associate the Lord’s forerunner with Elijah, the great prophet of the Old Testament Malachi 3:23. Jesus views John the Baptist who preaches repentance in the spirit of Elijah (Luke 1:17). Jesus says John as the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, “yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." In the heavenly Jerusalem, they are greater than John, because they see God face-to-face.
In the second reading, James encourages the early Christians to be patient, “because the coming of the Lord is at hand.” He says, as an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. (James 5:10).
Now, why are the prophets an example of patience? Two key reasons. First, most of them never saw their prophecies come to fulfillment. That’s the first thing. So, think about Isaiah, Ezekiel, or Jeremiah’s prophecies of the coming Messiah. They all died before any of those things ever came to pass.
On this Sunday God invites us to embrace the joy he shares with us. He is with us to heal, liberate, and to   renew. In this Advent, let us approach him with open hearts and minds, he will bless us and send us out with a mission to bring the Good News to others.
As St. Teresa of Avila would say, “Christ has nobody on earth now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion is to look out to the earth. Yours are the feet by which He is to go about doing good and yours are the hands by which He is to bless us now.”