3rd Week of Advent B THE LORD IS OUR JOY My Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the midst of so many good things that people desire in life, joy and happiness are two things that are common and perhaps general. Both the poor and the rich are in need of these two things, and so on this third Sunday of Advent, we are called upon to rejoice, not just in anything, but in the Lord; who is the source of our salvation and redemption. May the joy of the Lord remain our strength, through Christ our Lord Amen. In the last two Sundays, we have been reading from the prophecies of Isaiah. In fact last Sunday, it was a message of consolation that he proclaimed to us. ‘Console my people, console them...’ Let us not forget that at the time of these prophesies, the people of Israel were in captivity and exile in the land of Babylon. In proclaiming the message of joy and redemption to the people, Isaiah talks about the mountains, the desert and wilderness, the sea, the bridegroom and the bride. These are expressions common among the people of Israel and which carries more than the surface interpretation. Today, he calls on the people to rejoice because the Lord has fulfilled his promise. First Reading (Isaiah 61: 1-2, 10-11) Isaiah in the last week’s reading, had promised the people of Israel, an early return to their homeland. God himself will be their guide on their journey, and that they will be met on arrival in Jerusalem by cries of joy and welcome. That will also be the beginning of a happy life. Indeed, the people regained their freedom, Cyrus conquered Babylon and simply allowed all foreigners who had been held captive to return to their homeland. They were indeed surprised when they got back home to no reception as prophesied. Rather, they met a cold and hostile environment. The returnees soon overcame this but were faced with other problems like housing and farmland. They were getting poorer by the day. They became discouraged and once again began to grumble, what has happened? Had the prophet just deceived us? What had happened to all the promises we heard in Babylon? The prophet today reminds the people of the kindness and mercy of God which should make them rejoice. Isaiah presents himself as the one sent to the discouraged people, to bring them hope and courage. He is sent to, ‘bring the good news to the poor, bind up hearts that are broken, proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison and to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.’ Were the promises of the prophet finally fulfilled? Though there were some changes in the behaviour of the people, the injustices continued and the corruption of leaders and the arrogant behaviour of the rich were not yet over. But the fact was that, the poor began to have an assurance that they will someday be free from oppression, the day when the Lord will achieve his promise of liberty, joy and happiness. They believed that this will come with the revelation of the messiah. If we look at our own nation today, do we find some similarities? During the days of military rule, we all cried and wailed under the oppressive rule of our self-made leaders. Many lost their lives in the battle. Corruption became a way of life. Suddenly, just like the prophesy of Isaiah, there was a reprieve, then an election with so many promises of joy and gladness and anti-corruption crusade that will bring all our former oppressors to their knees, to refund what they had looted and ask for pardon. Three years have passed now and how much of that has been achieved. Where is the anti-corruption bill?. The bill itself seems to have given the nation a clean bill of health in terms of corruption. What of all the electoral promises made by all our leaders, how many people have been empowered by government actions to become self reliant, housing for all, for how much are the government houses sold? Can any poor man afford even a government bungalow? Can even a government worker buy? Free flow of water, free health care, good roads etc. How far have we gone with the promises of the last elections? There is another election already at the door. The same promises are being repeated all over. The poor who are not satisfied like the people of Israel grumble and complain, they question God since they cannot question their government. Worse still is that there are some rich ones in the community, who use their monies–their ill gotten wealth, to fan trouble. They are ever ready and willing to cause unrest in the society. They use their money to buy arms and give to the hungry children of the poor, to fight their neighbours to distract them from facing the issues of development which they have failed to address. For how long. That is why we sing ‘Come Lord Jesus, the light is dying, the night keeps crying’. In the second part of the reading the prophet began to celebrate the love of God, for he knows the Lord will act, it may only take some time. Will God not act in our own situation too? He will, just wait and see. Second Reading (1 Thessalonians 5:16-24) Paul called on Christians to rejoice always. If we appreciate God in our lives, there is the need to be happy at all times, never allowing anybody to dampen our spirit, we need to be prayerful also at all times knowing that through it we have an access to our Father in heaven and above all else we must give thanks to God in all things even when we are faced by troubles and trials. Gospel (John 1: 6-8, 19-28) The Gospel for the second week running presents us with John as a model for us. The question to John is who are you? The Christ, Elijah or the Prophet? To all of these he answered NO. He prefers to be known as prophesied, ‘the voice that cries out in the wilderness, prepare a way for the Lord.’ John did not even accept himself as the Elijah, yet he fulfils the prophetic role of Elijah in preparing the way fro the Messiah and Jesus told his disciples that Elijah came in John the Baptist. John himself does not seem to know what role he had been given to perform, while in prison he will send his disciples to ask Jesu if he was the One who was to come or there was the need to wait for another. The answer of Jesus was that the prophesies or restoration of sight and hearing and speech are being accomplished through his ministry and blessed is anyone who does not lose faith in him. John has no personal interest in himself, he simply puts himself at the disposal of God who has sent him to proclaim His message to the people. It is simply a matter of ‘man know thyself and be thyself’. There are so many people today in our society who who refuse to accept their roles. They want to be the other person and the other. Even when things are not going right, they still prefer to rule the people by any means, through bribes, force and deception. When they fail, they still find it had to resign their positions because their intention in the first place is not that of service but to rule the people and to acquire fame and wealth for themselves. ‘I am not He’. I am myself. I am just here to prepare the way for the one who will lead you back to the right path and I will introduce him to you at the right time. If only we realise that we are limited as human beings in a lot of things. We may be able to help create a better world. May the God of peace make you perfect and holy; and may you all be kept safe and blameless, spirit soul and body, for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has called you and he will not fail you. Amen.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 20:14:02 +0000
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