Rejoice, the Lord is near! Do not be discouraged.

Homily Outline for the Third Sunday of Advent, Year A.

Gaudéte in Dómino semper: íterum dico, gaudéte.  On the Third Sunday of Advent, our penultimate week of preparation begins.  From the Latin of today’s entrance antiphon we take this Sunday’s nickname, Gaudéte Sunday, that is, Rejoice Sunday.  And it’s in the command form – you, over there, rejoice!  The antiphon is drawn from Paul’s letter to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice!  The Lord is near.”  Every Mass has two proper antiphons that are just as particular to that Mass as the readings and other prayers are.  You’ll see them in the missalettes, but they are often replaced by hymns.  The beauty and value of these antiphons is that they help to summarize and set the tone and theme of each Mass.  And, today, we are told to rejoice! The Lord is near!

The celebration of Christ’s birth in time is near… we’re over halfway there.  Just as a runner in a race struggles to maintain the pace partway through, we are to stick to our preparations.  Now is not the time to flag, to falter, to let up! Keep getting ready!  Now is not the time to let prayer and confession, almsgiving and weekly Eucharist get snowed under! Now is not the time to let chances to reconcile with family and friends slip away!  My high school cross-country coach Mr. Murv always yelled at us from the sidelines, “You’ve gotta go NOW!”  I didn’t always appreciate it, but it was true!  If you wait too long to make your move, the opportunity passes!

In our gospel, John the Baptist is already imprisoned, and he sends word to Jesus, wanting to confirm whether He is in fact the Messiah. Jesus sends this message – the promises are fulfilled!  Isaiah’s prophecies have come to pass… truly, the Lord is near.  Jesus affirms John’s ministry of preparing the way for his coming.  He uses the strongest possible words, “Among those born of women, there has been none greater than John the Baptist!”  But listen to what He says next, “Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”  

To accept Christ, to follow Him, to be part of His body, the Church – these things can make us greater even than John the Baptist!  The Lord wants to beautiful wonderful things in our lives!  Will we receive Him?  Do we call out His name?  Will we persist against our own brokenness and inconsistency?  God is perfectly faithful to us – will we be faithful to Him?

We are told to rejoice, but often we encounter situations that do not fill us with joy.  One of the great spiritual dangers or traps once we’ve begun to walk with Christ is discouragement.  Perhaps many of you here have experienced at one time or another some flush of spiritual enthusiasm.  Perhaps it was a sunrise, the love in another eyes… perhaps it was a moment of prayer in the midst of terror, perhaps it was a retreat…perhaps it was even a homily!  In that moment you knew God’s love and truth and beauty more deeply.  It was immediate, and real.  You were filled with the possibility in God… the possibility of renewal, of love, of faithfulness.

After a close encounter with the Lord, we are enthusiastic for a time… but then some of the immediacy and joy fades.  We see our own flaws, or the flaws of those we love once again come into focus.  Our confidence in ourselves, or even in God, wavers.  We rejoiced, but then we are tempted toward discouragement, or even despair.

Listen in this light to James today, “Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.  See how the farmer waits for precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and late rains.  You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm.”  God HAS planted the seed of life and love and conversion in our hearts… it WILL grow if we wait upon Him!  When the whisper of discouragement sounds in our ear: “You’re no good, you’re too broken, you can never change,” may we recognize it for what it is… the lie of our accuser, the evil one.  God does not speak to us with discouragement… Isaiah says today, “Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication…”

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  One aspect of this feast is the Lord’s tender mercy in sending His mother to the despairing people of Mexico right in the middle of their world being turned upside down by the arrival of the Spanish.  She appeared to a humble and simple man, St. Juan Diego, and assured him of her maternal presence and protection.  One account gives her words thusly, “For am I not here, I, Your Mother? Are you not in the cool of My Shadow? in the Breeziness of My Shade? Is it not I that am your Source of Contentment? Are you not cradled in My Mantle?  cuddled in the Crossing of My Arms?  Is there anything else for you to need?”  So is the Lord close to us, in His own presence, through His angels and saints, through our Mother Mary.  

We are told today to rejoice, that the Lord is near.  May we surrender our discouragement, our doubts, and embrace this promise, and continue our preparations… Let me close then, with today’s second or communion antiphon: “Say to the anxious: be strong and fear not, our God will come to save us!”