Commentary
Sunday, 12/17/2017, Third Sunday of Advent
The Priesthood and the Coming of the Lord
First Reading Commentary: Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11
Today, Isaiah continues his prophecy of the coming of the Lord but the first part of today’s reading from Isaiah is also a prophecy of the priesthood. Priests are called to bring glad tidings by proclaiming the gospel. Through the Sacrament of Confession, they are called to proclaim liberty to those who are captives and prisoners to sin. Priests are called to proclaim the promise of the Kingdom of Heaven and to anoint the people with oils of gladness. These are the oils which are used in the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, the Sacrament of the Sick (Last Rights) and Holy Orders.
But as we consider today’s prophecy from Isaiah in the context of Advent, we have to remember the One who is the Great High Priest and that is Jesus Christ. Everything that Isaiah prophesized Christ did and instructed His Apostles, the first priest and bishops of the Church, to do after Him.
In order to celebrate Advent by preparing ourselves for the coming of the Lord in a complete way, one of the things that we have to consider is the Lord’s mission. Christ came to save us, redeem us and lead us to His Kingdom in heaven. With that in mind, preparing ourselves to celebrate the birth of Christ would be incomplete if we did not also prepare ourselves for His second coming.
For that reason, the second part of Isaiah’s prophecy today points directly at the Book of Revelation. In fact, the readings for the first two Sundays of Advent have had much to do with Revelation. Today, Isaiah says that there will be a day of vindication. That day is the last day and the day that justice and praise will indeed spring up before all nations.
But I want to focus on this saying from Isaiah, “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul.” Let’s look at the word, “heartily” and the phrase, “joy of my soul.” Just how much do we rejoice in the Lord and how much joy is there in our souls for the Lord?
As we prepare ourselves during Advent, we are also getting ready for Christmas—not just the birthday of Christ but also a time of giving. Christmas has become so commercialized that some of us loose sight of what has been given to us. Some people forget the “Christ” in Christmas.
It is God who gave us our lives. It is God who will save us from our sins (that is those who wish to be saved.) It is God who promises eternal peace and happiness in His Kingdom and only He can lead us there. It is from God that all good things come!
We should be in the spirit of giving at Christmas, not because it is a nice way to be or because we feel that we should be, but because God has given to us. And, because all that there is comes from God, we should be like Isaiah. We should not just rejoice in the Lord—we should rejoice heartily in the Lord and He should be the joy of our souls.
Rejoice, Pray and Give Thanks
Second Reading Commentary: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Once again, we hear the message that we should make ourselves ready for the coming of the Lord. Today, Paul tells us to make ourselves ready so that we may be preserved blameless and indeed, we should. But in this commentary, I want to meditate on something else that Paul says.
Paul tells us that it is God’s will that we rejoice, pray and give thanks. As I reflect on this, I find that it would be totally impossible to have any peace in life without doing these things. I rejoice, pray and give thanks but I also still have troubles just like everyone else. Maybe, I need to rejoice more, pray more and give more thanks.
Can you imagine how miserable a person’s life has to be if that person never rejoices or prays of gives thanks to God? Can you imagine what might be in store for them on the last day? Let’s not forget them in prayer as we pray for ourselves and each other.
God does not forget anyone and He never stops reaching out to us. This is what Paul is talking about when he says, “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will also accomplish it.” In other words, God is totally dedicated and committed to taking care of us and saving those of us who wish to be saved. In our humanity, we may quit but God does not.
So, when we include those who do not rejoice or pray or give thanks in our prayers, we are living in the true spirit of Advent because we are living in the Spirit of the One whose birth we are about to celebrate—God the Son--Emmanuel.
Get Your Faith in Order
Gospel Commentary: John 1:6-8, 19-28
John the Baptist testified that he was not the light but that the one who was to come was the light. There were those who were confused by John the Baptist and at the time, no one knew that John was heralding the coming of Jesus as the Messiah and the Christ.
But there is no reason for us to be confused. In faith, we know that John testified to the coming of Christ. In faith, we know that Jesus is the Light of the World and that His Light will show us the way to His Kingdom. I say, in faith, because there are those who do not believe.
The Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask John who he was. John said, “I am not the Christ.” He also said that he was not Elijah or the Prophet. They were obviously frustrated when they said, “What do you have to say for yourself.” John answered by identifying himself as the one who was prophesized by Isaiah in Isaiah 40:3 and said, “I am the voice of the one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord.”
There are two things to consider about John’s answers. First, the gospel tells us that priests and Levites were sent and that some Pharisees were also sent. All of these people would have been well versed in Scripture. Therefore, to them, John’s answer should have been sufficient testimony that he was the one who was fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy.
Second, John was very direct in saying that he was not the Christ but that he was the one who was to tell the world that the Christ is coming. Again, taking Isaiah’s prophecy into account, these people should have been satisfied with John’s answer and accepted his mission in faith. Instead, they continued to challenge him.
How often do we challenge the Word instead of accepting it in faith? Consider this: if no one ever challenged the Word or refused to accept the Word in faith, there would be no such thing as different denominations of Christianity. For that matter, there would only be one religion in the world.
The Pharisees asked, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?” It was the Pharisees who orchestrated the crucifixion of Christ by turning people against Him. With their challenge to John, we see that they had decided to reject Christ and the one who was heralding His coming from the beginning. Not only did they not have faith, they had made a deliberate choice not to have faith.
Advent is a time for us to renew and strengthen our faith because it is in faith that we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ and it is in faith that He leads us to His Kingdom.
John answered the Pharisees by telling them that he baptized with water and that they did not recognize the one who was coming. In saying this, John called the Pharisees out on their lack of faith.
As we heard in last week’s gospel from Mark, John exercised complete humility to Christ. In continuing his answer to the Pharisees, he said that he was not worthy to untie the sandal strap of the one who was coming. We are only worthy in the sight of God because He makes us worthy and He only does that when we put our faith in Him.
With that in mind, John the Baptist’s mission was not limited to heralding the coming of Christ. When John said, “Prepare the way,” he was telling the world to get its faith in order.
