The Lord is near! The Lord is here!
3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
‘Closeness’ of God.
The Third Sunday of Advent is also called Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete means rejoice! We rejoice because we are already halfway through our waiting – the Lord is at hand!
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| The Lord is near! The Lord is here! |
“What does ‘the Lord is at hand’ mean? In what sense this ‘closeness’ of God?”
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI [The CTS New Daily Missal, 2012] tells us that, “God’s ‘closeness’ is not a question of space and time but rather of love: love brings people together! This coming of Christmas reminds us of this fundamental truth of our faith, and in front of the manger we shall be able to savour Christian joy contemplating in the newborn Jesus the Face of God who made Himself close to us out of love.”
Believing and proclaiming the ‘closeness’ of God.
It is not co-incidence that in the Gospel Reading this Sunday, we are also told of the mystery of this ‘closeness’ of God [Jn 1: 26-27], “There stands among you – unknown to you – the One who is coming after me.”
And this has three significance:
1) “I am not He.” [Jn 1: 20]
After the 15th State Election on 12 Aug 2023, Malaysia has found itself at a crossroad: despite the prolonged political turmoil and continued economic regression, we found ourselves spiralling deeper into racial and religious tensions, polarisation and extremism.
And just a few days ago (13 Dec 2023), it was reported that “Covid-19 cases almost double to nearly 12,800 in one week.” The Ministry of Health has appealed for all in the country to resume COVID-19 preventive measures after reported cases almost doubled in its latest report. Looking back, we have been battling COVID-19 since March 2020, but the end of the pandemic is nowhere near.
We pray, we hope, and we do our best… but our efforts seem futile and what we have accomplished is insignificant. In life, we want control over everyone and everything. In truth, no one and nothing is within our control.
“I am not He.” St John the Baptist is inviting us to accept the truth that we are finite and only God is infinite – we need to let God be God and to trust that God is always in control.
2) “He comes after me.” [Jn 1: 27]
Despite all seems doom and gloom, we must be careful not to fall into passivism. No doubt, “I am not He” – I am not God; I am not the Christ. It does not mean we leave everything to God and put our blame on Him. There is a saying attributed to St Ignatius of Loyola that we should ‘pray as if everything depends on God, and work as if everything depends on us'. We need to do what is possible, prayerfully; and God will take care of the impossible, definitely. We need to work hard but leave the outcome to God. If we sincerely believe that God is in charge, then we can tolerate mixed results and endure failure. And to echo this is Archbishop Oscar Romero, “…We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future that is not our own.”
3) “Make a straight way for the Lord.” [Jn 1: 23]
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| Know the Way. Prepare the Way. Show the Way |
How can we make a straight way for the Lord if we do not know His way? Without God, a human person loses his purpose. Without Christ, a Christian loses his mission. To know the way of the Lord, we must be His true disciples and be part of His Living Body, the Church. We must learn to make the mind of Jesus Christ our own, strive to pattern our lives on the teachings of the Gospel, and to love the Lord our God and our neighbour. This was Christ’s command and He was its perfect example. [cf. RCIA 52] Christ’s mind must be our mind, Christ mission must be our mission: like Christ, we must “bring good news to the poor, bind up hearts that are broken; proclaim liberty to the captives, freedom to those in prison; and proclaim a year of favour from the Lord” [Is 61: 1-2].
Embracing God.
At Advent 2020, Pope Francis reminded us that ‘no pandemic (nothing) can turn off the light of Christmas’. Yes, the light of Christ shining forth from Christmas will never be turned off or dimmed!
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| Christ is coming to us at the speed of light. |
What then does it mean to us believers?
Fr Laurence Freeman has this to say, “We need to prepare to recognise and receive He who is coming towards us at the speed of light. This speed means that He who is coming towards us is here already.”
Yes, Christ is coming to us at the speed of light, and in all truth, He is already here! Therefore, rejoice and be glad, let us recognize Him and receive Him!
Let our fervent prayer be:
“Dear Jesus, open my eyes that I may recognise You; open my heart that I may receive You.”
Let us also pray that God’s justice, peace, truth and love may prevail in Malaysia, Israel-Palestine, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua.
[Note: This Gospel reflection was adapted from Porta Fidei, Gospel Reflection, 13 Dec 2020.]
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