May we through today's Eucharistic celebration be renewed and transformed in the depth of our being so as to encounter Christ fruitfully and profitably at his coming at Christmas and at the end of our lives.
Happy Sunday!
The passage of the gospel refers to the interview that the disciples of John the Baptist have with Jesus. The Precursor's mission ends in humility. He is not the bridegroom, but only his friend who is present and listens to him, and rejoices in hearing his ... He must grow up and I will diminish (John 3, 29-30). Perhaps, the Precursor’s attitude also portrays a certain uneasiness: that of the man who advances over the years and asks himself how his mission is accomplished. The pedagogy/strategy of John consists in letting his disciples in the presence of Jesus to ask the questions themselves. This resembles what he did when he showed Jesus to Andrew and John who later asked Jesus: Rabbi, where do you live?" (John1,38). John could easily have kept his disciples around him. In a certain way he made more impression on Jesus with his asceticism, better suited to the image of the prophet who whips and threatens. Jesus refers the disciples of John, simultaneously, to the facts and to the Word of God. He quotes (freely) Isaiah as he will do in the synagogue of Nazareth (Lk 4,21): Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled that you have heard with your ears. With the crowd, Jesus uses the circumstance, the actuality, to educate the witnesses of the scene. He brings them back to themselves: What have you gone to see! The intention, the meaning of having gone to listen to John needs to be purified. Probably, they had been driven by curiosity, but also by something more. Why did they go to see that poor man, dressed in camel skin? It was an opportunity to situate the mission of John the Baptist: he is the greatest of the prophets. But now, with Jesus, a new fact begins: the kingdom of heaven.
DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Isaiah 35,1-6a.8a.l0; Psalm 145; James 5,7-10; Matthew 11,2-11; 3rd Sunday of Advent; Year A, 2019/20)
The movement of the message of the first reading, first of all, depicts brilliant images of a country that comes back to life. The deserted and dry land, are covered with wild flowers like the prosperous neighbouring countries: Lebanon, Carmel, Sharon. The human society also shares in the renewal: The eyes of the blind will open... Behind all this lies the marvellous intervention of the Lord: They will see the glory of the Lord... Behold your God… He comes to save you. Often, many prophetic oracles present the situation of the exiles as a punishment deserved by them. But here, God is in solidarity with the poor: Behold your God! He is with them, announces to them his revenge, the overthrow of the established disorder and the return to Jerusalem in joy. It is a reversal of situation. The healing of the sick is at the same time physical and moral. Joy returns not only to the crippled, but also to the lazy; it makes those who were resigned to be silent talkative. The blind, who refused to see God's action, must surrender to evidence. Those who stopped their ears end up feeling the Good News of salvation. Isaiah's prophecy serves as a reference to the Gospel of Matthew that is read today.
Psalm 145 compares the disappointing appeal for help to the powers of the earth, and the assuring trust placed in God. The verses proclaimed today echo the promises of Isaiah: God renders justice to all the oppressed. The habitual image of the Lord as the protector of Israel is replaced by that of the protector of the poor, the widow, the orphan and even the stranger. But also Israel is poor, hence, the Lord's protection over her.
Representing the communities of the primitive Church, the Apostle, St James holds, in the second reading, that the coming of the Lord and his final return ought to put an end to our trials and establish definitive justice. In the meantime, two suggestions are given: Be patient! The Apostle James suggests the example of patience given by farmers (see the parables of the tares and the mustard seed {Matt 13,24ff}). The second suggestion is: Don't complain about each other! Leave judgment to the Lord. Do not judge and you will not be judged (Luke 6,37; Cf 1 Cor 4, 3). To justify this advice, the Apostle states: The judge is at the gates. We still emphasise the continuity in this invitation to patience. James based his advice on the example of the prophets, that are regarded as the saints of the Old Testament and He thinks particularly of Job, who, although involved in all misfortunes, never lost hope.
The passage of the gospel refers to the interview that the disciples of John the Baptist have with Jesus. The Precursor's mission ends in humility. He is not the bridegroom, but only his friend who is present and listens to him, and rejoices in hearing his ... He must grow up and I will diminish (John 3, 29-30). Perhaps, the Precursor’s attitude also portrays a certain uneasiness: that of the man who advances over the years and asks himself how his mission is accomplished. The pedagogy/strategy of John consists in letting his disciples in the presence of Jesus to ask the questions themselves. This resembles what he did when he showed Jesus to Andrew and John who later asked Jesus: Rabbi, where do you live?" (John1,38). John could easily have kept his disciples around him. In a certain way he made more impression on Jesus with his asceticism, better suited to the image of the prophet who whips and threatens. Jesus refers the disciples of John, simultaneously, to the facts and to the Word of God. He quotes (freely) Isaiah as he will do in the synagogue of Nazareth (Lk 4,21): Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled that you have heard with your ears. With the crowd, Jesus uses the circumstance, the actuality, to educate the witnesses of the scene. He brings them back to themselves: What have you gone to see! The intention, the meaning of having gone to listen to John needs to be purified. Probably, they had been driven by curiosity, but also by something more. Why did they go to see that poor man, dressed in camel skin? It was an opportunity to situate the mission of John the Baptist: he is the greatest of the prophets. But now, with Jesus, a new fact begins: the kingdom of heaven.
From the readings of today’s Sunday what theme can we reflect further on? One could take up the idea of preparing the way for the one who is to come. But who is? In the Gospel, preparation takes place in the desert; not because it is the place of happiness desired by God but because we must pass by them. It is the place of trial, temptation, thirst and therefore, of desire; and where the words of hope acquire a meaning. In this time of Advent, we must retire to the desert. You do not have to go so far from your home. You need only to take a bit of mental distance from your normal circumstances of daily life and retire into the recluse of your soul, into your inner life where you are alone with God. There, in this time of Advent, God will give us hope and encouragement: We need to believe that renewal will be strengthened by God just as the blind recovered their sight, the cripple walked. Patience and impatience are the two ways in which men face problems, and each has its possibilities and risks. Patient people act slowly, resign themselves, and accept compromises too easily. The impatient ones want everything at once, are intransigent, and sometimes lack realism. During Advent, the Church finds in the Bible all the expressions of urgency and imminence of salvation. Here is your God, revenge comes! (1st reading). Here, the judge is at the door (2nd reading). Are you the one who must come (Gospel)? It shakes our apathy, enlivens our thirst, and makes us feel impatient. But the Gospel is very different from the revolution or the conquest of the world. It must heal in depth, truly change the world, and make the desert bloom again. The Church also preaches patience, such as Apostle James did, not out of fear, but out of respect for God's action, which acts over time and with time. Patience is not resignation. Already, today we must take courage and put ourselves at work; for as of now the blind see and the cripple walk. But the work of God is mysterious and only in eschatological times will it be fully accomplished. John the Baptist may have somehow exhibited be-wilderness as he sent message to Jesus asking: Are you the one who has to come? Our faith is lived and strengthened by facing the problems of life. The timid are upset about it; the reassuring certainties must not be questioned. The Messiah has come; let's not think about it anymore. But many men, many Christians wonder and ask: If this Messiah has not changed the world, he is not the true Messiah. Jesus agrees to be questioned, does not fear the trial of facts and invokes for himself the double testimony of Scripture and works. As in the time of the Gospel, the facts alone are not enough to convince everyone. It is necessary that the word highlights them. Together we seek the actual manifestation of the power of the Saviour and the testimony of the word that highlights it. From the foregoing, the Church during this advent season exhorts us to retire to the desert of our souls where we encounter God who will guide us in the requisite transformation and renewal of our hearts. He will bestow on us the gift of patience as we wait for his coming. He will help us discern His ways and we will follow him as he unfolds his plan before us. Aligned to him, he will make of us veritable instruments in making the blind see, the cripple walk, the dumb speak; he will make us witnesses of his marvellous deeds. He will confirm our faith in the Messiah and help us repose full confidence in him. We shall not only be privileged, like John the Baptist, to be precursors of the Messiah but also, and more so, the proclaimers and apostles of the good News of the Kingdom which the Messiah has established and which will be fully manifest in eschatological times.
+John I. Okoye
(graphics by charles)
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