Third Sunday of Advent

by

Monday, 18 December 2023 : 3rd Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures and as we come ever closer to the moment of Christmas, which is just exactly a week away from now, each and every one of us are reminded that we all should do our part in ensuring that our preparations and all the things that we do in our upcoming Christmas celebrations and joy, all of them should always be focused and centred on the Lord, our God and our Saviour, Christ, in Whom we all ought to be celebrating about, and the One Who is the true joy and reason for Christmas. Without Christ, there can be no Christmas, and this is what we are being reminded of again today.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah in which the Lord reassured His people that He would send unto them His salvation, through the Heir of the House of David, successor of David, the great King who had once ruled over the whole people of Israel. This was hope and joy given to the people who by that time had been facing lots of struggles, humiliations and hardships. The kingdom of Israel as it was during the glorious days of David and Solomon was no more, and the northern part of the kingdom, also known as Israel had been destroyed and conquered by the Assyrians, and many of them uprooted from their homeland to be exiled to far-off lands.

The kingdom of Judah, where the prophet Jeremiah ministered in, was also not in a good state, having been beset by many troubles, and dominated by powerful neighbours and rulers. Yet amidst all of these, the Lord told all of His people of the hope that was to come, after telling and warning them of the destruction that was about to come to them because of their sins and wickedness, that eventually, the Lord would rescue and save them all, and gather them all once again, and that they would be His people once again, promising and reassuring them all of His love and continued compassion and care. Through all of that, we can see just how much God has loved us all His people, and we really should not have taken any of these for granted. God’s love for us endures even despite our sins and wickedness.

Ultimately, God still loves us, though He despises our sins and evils. He wants us all to turn away from all those sins and embrace His path of righteousness and truth once again, and this is why He has sent unto us His salvation through His Son, which we heard in our Gospel passage today, as the fulfilment of everything that He has spoken, promised and reassured us all from the very beginning of time, and which He has kept on reminding us again and again through His prophets and messengers. We heard of the Lord sending His Son unto us, Incarnate in the flesh and to be born of the Blessed ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, who became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the will of the Father, and how He persuaded and revealed the truth to St. Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, that the Child in her is none other than the Saviour of the world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard of all these we are then reminded of why Christmas is so important to us, and that is because God’s love has been made manifested to us, tangible, real and approachable through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, that God has shown Himself to us, no longer veiled and hidden, and He showed us all just how much He cared for all of us that He reached out to us sinners, even to the worst of sinners amongst us, and making known to all of us His intentions, that is to reconcile us and to bring about forgiveness and liberation for us from the tyranny of sin and evil. Much as how the Lord spoke through the prophet Jeremiah in our first reading today, through Christ, all of us have seen and witnessed the real proof of God’s providence and love.

Today, as we reflect upon these readings from the Sacred Scriptures, let us all spend some time to think about how we may have prepared ourselves for the Christmas celebrations and how we have responded to the way that the world around us have celebrated Christmas, with all the festivities and merrymaking, all the glamour and glitz of the celebrations, but one which often came without Christ in the midst of all those things. This is where all of us as Christians must strive to show the world that Christmas is truly about Christ, about God and the Love which He has very generously shown us all, by sending unto us His Son into our midst, and not about all the food, parties, festivities and gifts that we are all going to get and enjoy during the time of celebration.

Let us all therefore do our best in this time and opportunities provided to us, in this blessed season of Advent so that we may truly prepare ourselves wholeheartedly and completely, in living our lives worthily as Christians and in welcoming the Lord into our midst, focusing our attention once again on Him and not upon the many other distractions and temptations all around us. Let us all put the Lord once again at the very centre of our lives and existence, and do our best so that we may truly indeed be God’s faithful and committed followers and people, and through our proper orientation and focus in life, our emphasis on Christ, the true Joy and Hope of Christmas, we may show Him and His love to more and more people all around us.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He empower each and every one of us with the courage and strength to do His will, and may He bless our Advent commemorations and preparations that we may truly be able to rejoice fully and properly this upcoming glorious and joyous Christmas season. Amen.

by

Monday, 18 December 2023 : 3rd Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 1 : 18-24

This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to disgrace her.

While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, she has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ fo He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means : God-with-us. When Joseph awoke, he did what the Angel of the Lord had told him to do, and he took his wife to his home.

by

Monday, 18 December 2023 : 3rd Week of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 71 : 1-2, 12-13, 18-19

God, endow the King with Your justice, the royal Son with Your righteousness. May He rule Your people justly and defend the rights of the lowly.

He delivers the needy who call on Him, the afflicted, with no one to help them. His mercy is upon the weak and the poor; He saves the lives of the poor.

Praised be YHVH, God of Israel, Who alone, works so marvellously. Praised be His glorious Name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His glory! Amen. Amen.

by

Monday, 18 December 2023 : 3rd Week of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 23 : 5-8

YHVH further says, “The day is coming when I will raise up a King Who is David’s righteous successor. He will rule wisely and govern with justice and righteousness. That will be a grandiose era when Judah will enjoy peace and Israel will live in safety. He will be called YHVH-Our-Justice!”

“The days are coming,” says YHVH, “when people shall no longer swear by YHVH as the Living God Who freed the people of Israel from the land of Egypt. Rather, they will swear by YHVH as the Living God Who restored the descendants of Israel from the northern empire and from all the lands where He had driven them, to live again in their own land!”

by

Sunday, 17 December 2023 : Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Rose (Gaudete Sunday) or Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday is the Third Sunday of Advent, also known popularly as Gaudete Sunday. This is known as such because of the Introit of the Mass which goes as ‘Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete.’ and this means ‘Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice.’ The word Gaudete having the meaning ‘Rejoice’ and ‘Joy’ and hence which is why this Sunday we are focusing and contemplating upon the aspect of ‘Joy’ in Advent, after that of ‘Hope’ and ‘Peace’ in the earlier two Sundays of Advent and ‘Love’ in the next and last Sunday of Advent. This Sunday, much like its Lenten counterpart, the Laetare Sunday, marks a short and temporary break from the penitential and more sombre nature of the rest of the Advent season, as we prepare ourselves and anticipate the coming true Joy of Christmas.

This is why it is very important that this Sunday we should ask ourselves well why is it that we are celebrating the upcoming joyful and festive Christmas season in the first place. Christmas is the time when we all tend to gather together and celebrate together as families and with our friends and loved ones. It is a time full of joy and festivities, and something that generally many if not most people are looking forward to each year. However, let us ask ourselves, what is Christmas and its joy is to all of us? Is it about all the glitters and festivities, all the food and revelries, all the gifts and exchanging of wishes, all the merrymaking and parties? Or is it about the One Whom we ought to be truly rejoicing in, the One because of Whom Christmas is there in the first place?

This Sunday, we remind ourselves that the Joy of Christmas is truly not about all the gifts, parties, celebrations, merrymaking and all the things that we usually associate with Christmas, all the lights and the revelries, but rather, the very essence and focus of Christmas and our joy should always be on Christ, our Lord, through Whom, the world and all of us have received the sure hope, assurance and hence, being able to rejoice wholeheartedly because all of us, who have once been destined to damnation and destruction, have been saved by the saving power and the works of Our Lord, Who humbled Himself, and willingly embraced us all sinners, by being Incarnate in the flesh, and born of His mother Mary, coming into our midst, God Who is with us, Emmanuel.

Through Christ and His coming into this world, as He came to walk amongst us, He has shown us all the true nature of God, which is Love and kindness, compassion and mercy. He has always loved us from the very beginning, and He has always been patient in showing us all His kindness and compassion despite all of us having constantly and stubbornly disobeying Him and betraying Him with the wicked idols of this world, as we chose to follow the path of our desires, wealth and all the other temptations around us rather than to follow the path of the Lord. Essentially, we choose to seek the joy that is in the world rather than to seek the true joy that is found in Christ, our Lord alone.

That is why today we are all reminded of what is the true joy of Christmas, that is Christ our Lord. The Scripture readings today all allude to this, reminding us that the Lord has sent us all His salvation through His Son so that we may rejoice once again, as He gathered us all, reached out to us and helped us to get out from the depth of our sins and wickedness, leading us from the path of our downfall and damnation, into the Light of His truth and love. Like from our first reading today taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the prophecy of Isaiah regarding the coming of the Lord’s Saviour, in which His coming would be heralded with the occurrences of miracles, signs and wonders, which the Lord Jesus did perform, fulfilling all that God had promised to us, His beloved ones.

He came into this world to gather us all from the darkness and the evils surrounding us, and to lead us into His Light and Hope once again. He has come to us to make us holy and perfect once again just as St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Thessalonica in our second reading today. The Lord our God has given us His Son and bestowed upon us the Holy Spirit so that we all may have the wisdom, courage and grace to continue living our lives with faith and dedication to Him despite the many trials and challenges which we may have to face amidst our journey of life, our faith life and struggles each day. That is why, we are reminded to continue to direct our focus and attention on Him, and not on the other, false sources of joy and satisfaction present all around us.

The Gospel passage today also reminded us off this, as we heard about St. John the Baptist, the one who is the Herald of the Lord, in how he revealed and directed each and every one of us to the salvation in God, in pointing us to the One in Whom we ought to be rejoicing and celebrating. And as we heard from the Gospel passage, he also showed great humility that despite the fame and the great following he had at that time, he remained humble and consistent in his message, and in leading everyone to the one true Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. As we come ever closer to the time of Christmas, that is less than a week from now, this passage reminds us yet again of why we rejoice and celebrate this Christmas, that because our Lord Himself has come, hope and joy have been restored to us, and we rejoice because through the Lord, there is indeed plentiful redemption, strength and joy.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, just as we have been repeatedly reminded today of why we ought to celebrate this upcoming Christmas time and season, and how we should be celebrating and rejoicing in that moment, let us all therefore be renewed in our commitment to follow the Lord, our true Hope and Joy, the One Who has brought us all ever closer to Himself, reaching out to us with His everlasting and ever-enduring Light and love, so that all of us who are still wandering in this world full of darkness and evil may find our way to Him, and enter into the glorious and joyful Kingdom that He has prepared, designed and intended for all of us. This is why, this Third Sunday of Advent, as we reflect on the joyful nature of our Advent expectation and looking up upon the True Joy of Christmas, let us all make sure that our preparations and our whole way of life may indeed be truly aligned and attuned with God’s path.

Let us all remind ourselves and one another that Christmas is truly not about comparing who among us can celebrate more beautifully or wonderfully, or whether we will get more presents and gifts than last year, and what kind of presents, gifts and good things we may gain. Instead, Christmas is about us sharing the joy which we have received from Christ our Lord Himself, the fountain of our joy and hope, Who has given us His everlasting love and peace. Let us all be the joyful bearers of God’s love to all the whole world, and beginning from ourselves, let us all truly, in all things, properly and worthily welcome the Lord into our midst, as we come to His Presence, seeking Him, our true Joy and Hope, now and always. May the Lord be with us all, and may the expectation of His Joy continue to strengthen us for the rest of this Advent season and thereafter. Amen.

by

Sunday, 17 December 2023 : Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Rose (Gaudete Sunday) or Purple/Violet

John 1 : 6-8, 19-28

A man came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness, as a witness to introduce the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but a witness to introduce the Light.

This was the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” John recognised the truth, and did not deny it. He said, “I am not the Messiah.”

And they asked him, “Then who are you? Elijah?” He answered, “I am not.” They said, “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Tell us who you are, so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. How do you see yourself?”

And John said, quoting the prophet Isaiah, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness : Make straight the way of the Lord!” Those who had been sent were Pharisees; and they put a further question to John, “Then why are you baptising, if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”

John answered, “I baptise you with water, but among you stands One Whom you do not know; although He comes after me, I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal.”

This happened in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptising.

by

Sunday, 17 December 2023 : Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Rose (Gaudete Sunday) or Purple/Violet

1 Thessalonians 5 : 16-24

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks to God at every moment. This is the will of God, your vocation as Christians. Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise the prophets’ warnings. Put everything to the test and hold fast to what is good. Avoid evil, wherever it may be.

May the God of peace make you holy and bring you to perfection. May you be completely blameless, in spirit, soul and body, till the coming of Christ Jesus, our Lord; He Who called you is faithful and will do it.

by

Sunday, 17 December 2023 : Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Rose (Gaudete Sunday) or Purple/Violet

Luke 1 : 46-48, 49-50, 53-54

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God, my Saviour! He has looked down upon His servant, in her lowliness, and people, forever, will call me blessed.

The Mighty One has done great things for me. Holy is His Name! From age to age, His mercy extends to those who live in His presence.

He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty. He held out His hand to Israel, His servant, for He remembered His mercy.

by

Sunday, 17 December 2023 : Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Rose (Gaudete Sunday) or Purple/Violet

Isaiah 61 : 1-2a, 10-11

The Spirit of the Lord YHVH is upon Me, because YHVH has anointed Me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up broken hearts, to proclaim liberty to the captives, freedom to those languishing in prison; to announce the year of YHVH’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God.

I rejoice greatly in YHVH, My soul exults for joy in My God, for He has clothed Me in the garments of His salvation, He has covered Me with the robe of His righteousness, like a bridegroom wearing a garland, like a bride adorned with jewels. For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden makes seeds spring up, so will the Lord YHVH make justice and praise spring up in the sight of all nations.

by

Saturday, 17 December 2022 : 3rd Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we begin the last part of this Advent season, marking the final seven days of the season of Advent and entering into the more intense phase of discourse and preparations for the imminent celebrations of Christmas, we are reminded first of all of Who it is that we truly commemorate and celebrate at Christmas. It is not Santa Claus, Father Christmas or any other popular secular Christmas figures familiar to many of us whom we are celebrating about. It is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of the whole world, Who has been promised to us from the beginning of time, Whom we are all celebrating and rejoicing about. God has sent us all the perfect gift in His Son, in fulfilling everything that He has ever promised us, and showed us the perfect manifestation of His Love in the flesh, tangible and approachable by us all.

In our first reading today, we heard the words from the Book of Genesis where towards the end of Genesis, Jacob, the grandson of Abraham and the one whom God called Israel, the father of all the Israelites, was at the end of his earthly life, and gathered all of his children and extended family before him. At that occasion, as he knew that he did not have long time remaining with him, he prayed over all of his children, giving his blessings over each and every one of them. To them he prayed over and asked God to bless them in their own various ways, while also prophetically mentioning how each of his sons’ tribes would turn out to be. And most peculiarly and interestingly among all of them is what we heard contained in our first reading passage today regarding Judah, the progenitor of the tribe of Judah, and all the words regarding that tribe.

The blessing that Jacob gave to Judah seemingly showed a premonition of great things to come through Judah and his progeny, which was indeed prescient considering that later on, the tribe of Judah would eventually become preeminent among all the other tribes of Israel, and it was from among the tribes and houses of Judah that God had raised David, His chosen king and servant, to be the ruler over all of His people, Israel. Jacob told Judah and all his other children assembled that the house and tribe of Judah has been destined to rule over all of the people of God, and this was accomplished and fulfilled through the establishment of David as King of Israel, and his house, the House of David as the one that God had chosen to rule over all the Israelites.

To David, God Himself had also promised that his house and reign will be forever secure, and that his descendant will sit upon the Throne of Israel, ruling over all the people forevermore. All these promises that God had made became expectations by the people of God upon the downfall of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, centuries after the glorious days of the rule of David and his son, Solomon as Kings of Israel. The prophets spoke of the coming of God’s salvation and liberation for His people, and that a Messiah or Saviour would be born unto them, coming from God Himself, and that He would be born into the House of David just as prophesied and promised, that God’s many promises and words would be fulfilled through this same Messiah.

And as we heard from our Gospel passage today, which listed the full genealogy of our Lord Jesus from Adam all the way through Abraham and then David to Jesus Himself, we see the fulfilment of all of God’s promises made to all the three individuals mentioned through Christ, the Son of God born this Christmas, Who we are all celebrating and commemorating joyfully for. To Adam, God has promised the salvation and liberation from the tyranny and bondage of sin, the defeat of Satan and all of his wicked plans by which he had led mankind to downfall through disobedience and sin. To Abraham, God has made a Covenant with him, and has promised that his descendants will be glorious and numerous like the stars. To David, as mentioned, God promised to establish his rule and kingdom forever, and that his house will always sit on the throne of Israel.

All these were fulfilled completely and perfectly through Jesus Christ, the New Adam, born into this world as the Son of Man, as the perfect Man, obeying His Father’s will perfectly, and breaking forever the dominion of Satan and sin over us mankind. While our ancestors sinned by eating from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, disobeying God, Christ showed perfect obedience to God, His heavenly Father, by taking upon Himself the burden of the Cross, and was crucified and nailed upon the ‘tree’ of the Cross, that through Him, we may see and receive the salvation of God. And through Christ, all of us mankind all become the children of God, the children of Abraham by the adoption through the same faith we have in the same one God, in the New and Eternal Covenant He has established by His perfect offering and sacrifice on the Cross.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on all these and remind ourselves once again on Who it is that we truly celebrate for this upcoming Christmas, and for Whom we prepare ourselves thoroughly throughout this season of Advent, let us all truly reconnect ourselves with God and with all the love and compassion which He has shown us all so generously all these while. Let us all not be easily swayed and tempted by the many temptations of pleasures and worldly greed and desires especially aplenty around these periods, when we see all the excesses of all the secular celebrations of Christmas showed us. We must keep in mind our focus as Christians, on Christ Himself, our Lord and Saviour, the true Joy and Hope of Christmas, the very Reason we are celebrating. Through Him, God has restored Hope and Light in our midst, against all the darkness and evils all around us.

Let us all not forget the Child born on Christmas Day, more than two millennia ago. Too often we have celebrated all of our Christmas observances and festivities while forgetting and ignoring the One Whom we ought to be celebrating with and about. We should no longer be ignorant of Christ and all that God had done through Him for our sake. Let this upcoming Christmas and the remaining time of this current Advent season be a good reminder for one another and also a model for all others, that our faithful observance and our inspiring examples may help to lead more and more souls towards God and His saving grace, the eternal life that He promised us all who believe in Him. May God be with us always and may He guide us and strengthen us, and help us to make most use of this time of Advent. Amen.