Third Sunday of Advent
I know a six-month-old baby who has spent that last ten weeks in the hospital awaiting a liver transplant. On Friday, I visited with elderly parishioners who lost their daughter and son-in-law within a span of two weeks. The daughter took her own life. Last week I spoke with a mother whose son just got out of jail and is trying to make it work again. I know a young immigrant mother and her son who are trying to find safety and sustenance. I know a man chronically addicted to pornography and is trying to break free. I have a friend who is doing everything to stop the cancer from returning. There is only one thing that keeps them all going – hope!
The people to whom Isaiah proclaimed today’s first reading, were in exile in Babylon for forty years. Their lives, their nation, and their temple lay in ruins. They clung to the only hope they had that, one day God will once more be in their midst. And then they heard prophecy:
“Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.”
The people were so thrilled to hear this message that their joy knew no bounds. They broke out into song, wrote poems about their hope. Even creation and nature joined in. That is why today’s first reading begins with the words:
“The desert and the parched land will exult;
the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers,
and rejoice with joyful song.”
About five-hundred years later the people of Israel were waiting in hope yet again. Heavily burdened under the Roman Empire, the people longed for liberation. We can hear that eager and hope-filled expectation as John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask the question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” And I hope you hear poetry, song, joy and hope in Jesus response as he says,
“Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind regain their sight, the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
Here are my three points for today:
1. Hope Amidst Hopelessness. Helplessness is a reality. When illness overtakes someone we love, when a beloved child is lost, when gun-violence or drug overdose destroys young lives, when addiction consumes someone you deeply love, when people see no respite from financial burdens, when depression or debilitating illness sets in – we experience utter helplessness. The reason why the Christian story makes sense to me is it is the story of a God who teaches me never to abandon hope. It is the story of a helpless couple, a helpless baby born in stable, a helpless family that sought refuge in a foreign land, and the story of a man who only gave hope to the weak and sinful and yet who brutally and helplessly murdered upon a shameful cross. Both the manger and the cross capture the essence of human helplessness. But both the manger and the cross are also stories of hope. The Baby in the stable and the Savior on the cross teach us to never abandon hope.
2. Jesus, Hope of Humanity! What Jesus promised to John, he made it a reality for the people during his ministry. The blind regained their sight, the lame walked, the lepers were cleansed, the deaf did hear, the dead were raised, and the poor did have the good news proclaimed to them.” Jesus is the hope of the human race. These days, we have to be careful about where we place our hope. People are encouraged to put their hope in temporal realities - nation, race, political parties, military, power, and wealth. And people do their hope in them as if salvation lies in them. These cannot lead us to salvation. We must beware! Jesus is the hope of the human race. The church’s task is to give the hope that Jesus brought. To give any other kind of hope is a betrayal of the hope that Jesus brings to humanity.
Jesus is the hope of the human race. These days, we have to be careful about where we place our hope. Nation, race, political parties, military, power, wealth are realities in which people put their hope as if salvation lies in them. We must beware! Jesus, and onlyJesus, is the hope of the human race.
3. Let us give hope! May I draw your attention to the Gospel reading today? There are two parts to the reading. In the first part, Jesus confirms to John’s disciples that he is indeed “the One who is to come!” In the second part, Jesus says of John the Baptist, “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Mt 11:11). John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus. What an amazing life! What an amazing ministry! John the Baptist prepared the way for him whose name is Hope, Jesus Christ. I wish that what Jesus said of John, Jesus could say of us. Like John, our mission is to prepare the way for him whose name is Hope, Jesus Christ. Every person here stands in need of hope. Some sadness, some despair, some anxiety is part of each of our lives. Yet, we are called to be a people that brings hope to one another. This week be John the Baptist. This week bring hope.
The One whose name is Hope will be on this altar in a few moments. As we receive communion today, let us receive the hope he gives, and bring this hope to others.
- Fr. Satish Joseph