Friday 11 December 2020

3rd Sunday of Advent - Year B

Isaiah 61:1-2.10-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8.19-28

One thing is clear from our Readings and that is that the Lord God is engaged in a mighty work. God’s work dominates everything and occupies centre stage. It is all his doing. It is all the unfolding of God’s great plan.

And what is the response of God’s people to this plan? The Entrance Antiphon puts it neatly: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.

The prophet Isaiah caught a glimpse of God’s plan in his visions and burst out: I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God.

And when her cousin Elizabeth acknowledged the plan of God in Mary: Blessed is the fruit of your womb… Mary exclaimed: My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour.

This joy God intends for us also. In fact, his whole purpose was to make us happy, with the true happiness which heaven alone can give. And our hearts, too, should exult for joy. We too should rejoice in God our Saviour. And I guess this is why today is called Laetare Sunday – Rejoice Sunday!

But let’s be honest with ourselves. Let each one of us ask himself or herself, “Do I feel this joy? Am I exulting, am I rejoicing?”

For those of us who can muster an honest answer which may be no, I don’t feel this joy that you are describing, in fact, I hate to say it but I’m rather unmoved, let’s go back to the Word of God.

It is by, so to speak, diving into the word, like we dive into a swimming pool, that we find ourselves being moved. As we understand more and more, so we feel more and more, and so we come to praise God more and more for what he has done, and for what he is doing for us right at this minute. Of course, if we dive in and then quickly get out before we have a chance to get really we, well, then, nothing much will change.

Isaiah, in the First Reading, tells us more. He tells us that God has given the spirit of the Lord, that he has anointed, and that he has sent. These are all actions of God – giving, anointing, and sending – and all done to a mysterious person who is sent to bring good news, bind up broken hearts, proclaim liberty, and set free those in prison.

There are some clues as to who this person is. He has the spirit of the Lord:  the heavens were opened, and the Spirit descended upon him like a dove, and the voice of the Father thundered: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

Moreover, he is anointed, a Hebrew word meaning, Messiah or Chosen One.

And do you remember when Jesus read this very scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazara: The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free... ? When he finished he sat down and said: This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen. In other words, “I am the one about whom Isaiah is speaking.

Isaiah is ecstatic! He has seen a prophetic vision of the Promised One. He exults for joy in the Lord, his soul rejoices in his God. He is ecstatic not only because he has heard the promise but because he has tasted its fulfilment. For he has clothed me in the garments of salvation, he has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity… In other words, ‘He has healed me, he has restored me, he has saved me!’

This is what happened to us at Baptism and what happens to us each time we go to Confession. He clothes us in the garments of salvation and wraps us in the cloak of integrity.

What a wonderful God we have, a God who sent his anointed one to put heaven back within reach for us poor sinners.

If you are a poor sinner you will understand, you will exult for joy in the Lord. If you are not, I guess you will just be – baffled.