As we celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent, we celebrate Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete means rejoice. It is the first word of the entrance antiphon for today’s Mass: Gaudete in domino semper, which means “Rejoice in the Lord always.” As the rose candle on the Advent Wreath is lit in parishes and homes throughout the world, this Sunday lets us know that we are close to celebrating Jesus’ birth, close to the gift and mystery of Christmas.
As we hear in scripture today from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 11, Jesus points to his healing miracles showing John’s friends that he is the Messiah. Throughout scripture, God promises the Jewish people that he would send the Messiah. Jesus is the savior, the Messiah, the Anointed One, that God sent. It is Jesus who shows us how to love, forgive and share what we have, and we choose to believe in Jesus because of the love, sharing, and forgiveness that he offered his disciples and offers us through the Catholic Church today.
John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin sends his friends to ask Jesus if he is the one for whom the Jewish people have been waiting. Some believed that John the Baptist was the Messiah. As people heard John preach, his message remained steady, pointing them to turn toward God and away from sin. As people turned away from sin, John baptized them, challenging them to produce good fruit in society as evidence of their repentance. The reconciliation we receive in the Sacrament of Baptism gives us birth into a new life and is necessary for salvation and our entry into the Church. Baptism makes us sharers of Christ’s mission and delivers us from all sins (Original and personal). We become a new creation in Christ and are clothed in the dignity of Christ, receiving both grace and divine adoption. As we are reborn in Baptism, we then have the invitation to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation and approach the altar of the Lord sharing in the table of his Sacrifice at every Eucharist (Mass).
John the Baptist brought joy to the hearts of those who waited for the Messiah, the birth of Jesus. We too can bring joy to others as we await to celebrate the twelve days of Christmas and Jesus’ second coming. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: St. John the Baptist is the Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way. "Prophet of the Most High", John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last. He inaugurates the Gospel, already from his mother's womb welcomes the coming of Christ, and rejoices in being "the friend of the bridegroom", whom he points out as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". Going before Jesus "in the spirit and power of Elijah", John bears witness to Christ in his preaching, by his Baptism of conversion, and through his martyrdom. (CCC 523)
I pray that you and your loved ones continue to renew your heart these Advent days. The signs and wonders that surround our life together in the Catholic Church point us to the truth, what prophets have foretold. Look for the joy of the season. Jesus wants our joy to be complete. In loving Christ, obeying God’s commandments, and loving one another we find the freedom to possess JOY: J(esus) O(thers) Y(ourself). Throughout the days of Advent and Christmas, and every day, we are called to joyfully follow Jesus.