By
Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
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. Isaiah 35:3-4
You
too must be patient. Make your hearts
firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand. James 5:8
“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. Matthew 11:7b-9
Piety
Joy is an infallible sign of the closeness of Christ. Our hearts should be on fire with happiness
when we realize how loved we are by God.
God created us for his love. He loves us in the presence of his Son in
our lives. How we wait for Christ is the
story of our piety. The third Sunday of
Advent captures the joy in the realization that the one our hearts are crying
out for is ever so much closer than before. From his prison cell John sends messages
asking if Christ is the one we are awaiting. Christ is to be recognized by all
the miracles of healing he is doing. The blind see, the deaf hear and the lame
walk. Bread is provided for the hungry. So many miracles accompany Christ that
shout out to the world that Christ is the one who is to come. Joy is how we
welcome Christ. Our Sunday is the Sunday to rejoice. He is almost here.
Study
We look at the story of Christ and what he does. He
speaks the truth of the Father with authority.
He claims a personal knowledge of the Father by the deeds he does. We
study how Christ does it. We know he spent nights in prayer. How much closer to him we come by seeking out
the good people that are his people. The Christ of our hearts recognizes the
Christ of all the good people we know. By our deeds we are known as friends of
Christ. We read the Scriptures and get caught up in his story. We go to
Eucharist so that his Body and Blood may be our body and blood. We call out to
him in our needs and we let him minister to us by being one with our needs. The
good news reaches John in his prison. The one that he was to prepare the way
for is now one of us.
Action
John is the
greatest of the prophets of the Old Testament. But the least one born to the
kingdom of God is greater than he because he could only point out Christ while
we work at being Christ to our world. Christ born as the baby in his birth as the child makes it easy to do the
little tasks of our lives in a total way because we realize it is not what we
are doing that is so significant but rather with how much love we do what we
are doing. We too are given the responsibility of making Christ known. But we
make him known by living his word to the best of our efforts. Christ will make
up the difference for us by carrying out what we have begun with his
inspirations. His divine assistance is the source of our joy in his closeness.
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