The Third Sunday of Advent is a ‘joyful’ Sunday; the readings are full of impending promise. Also, in Advent season we are more than halfway to Christmas with anticipation of celebrations ahead.
The readings are not focused on the Christ child who is about to be born but on the adult Jesus who is coming to begin his ministry. The Messiah is imminent in the adult sense.
The readings lift our spirits. At the same time, we are conscious of the shadows that lurk in waiting for the appropriate time to try to diminish the light of the ‘blessed’ people involved.
The first reading is familiar to us because Jesus spoke these words in Nazareth on the day he began his ministry - according to the account in Luke’s gospel.
The people in Nazareth were impressed by his words and asked each other how the son of Joseph could speak so graciously? And yet…
Before Jesus left Nazareth, his fellow villagers were so angry with him that they wanted to kill him. Similarly, with John, his words which attracted people to Jordan caused his death for criticising Herodias of immorality.
The psalm is not a psalm in this Sunday’s readings but the Magnificat, the prayer of praise which burst forth from Mary’s spirit when she met Elizabeth. It is a beautiful hymn of praise.
And yet…
We celebrate Mary as the mother of Jesus and as the mother of God, yet we remember that she was a young peasant girl from an obscure village in Galilee who stood at the foot of the cross on which her son died in agony.
The second reading from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians is considered the earliest written letter in the New Testament. The imminence of the Second Coming of the Lord is a theme, some disciples wanted to know when it was coming?
This is an Advent theme and one which the liturgy uses extensively in the final weeks of Ordinary Time. When will Christ come? Paul encourages them (and us) to remain sober and blameless until the Lord comes. The reading ends with the sentence, ‘God has called you and he will not fail you.’
And yet..
The life of St Paul is an extraordinary story which he tells us through the letters he wrote. His conversion by Jesus in exceptional circumstances, his profound understanding of Jesus’ who identified himself with Christians being persecuted. Paul was not interested in writing about Christ’s life but rather the implications of his death. He was imprisoned and executed finally for his belief in Jesus as Son of God.
The gospel from John gives more detail about John the Baptist than Mark. The Jews are interested in the source of his power, in his background. Will he be a threat?
We are fortunate to know how the story ends and blessed to know that it is our story.
Columban Fr Gary Walker is currently living at the Columban house in Sandgate, Brisbane.