December 17th 2023. Third Sunday of Advent - Gaudete Sunday
Gospel: John 1:6-8; 19-28
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio
Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...
GOSPEL John 1:6-8; 19-28
A man came, sent by God.
His name was John.
He came as a witness,
a witness to speak for the light,
so that everyone might believe through him.
He was not the light,
only a witness to speak for the light.
This is how John appeared as a witness. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ he not only declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I am not the Christ’. ‘Well then,’ they asked ‘are you Elijah?’ ‘I am not’ he said. ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No’. So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?’ So John said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied:
a voice that cries in the wilderness:
Make a straight way for the Lord’.
Now these men had been sent by the Pharisees, and they put this further question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the prophet?’ John replied, ‘I baptise with water; but there stands among you – unknown to you – the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap’. This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.
The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ
SUMMARY
This is Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of Joy. What do we rejoice about in Advent? Isn’t it supposed to be a penitential time? The Christian must always seek to be joyful, even during penitence, because we are a Church oriented towards the Resurrection, towards the love of God for us. There are two types of “joy”: the self-directed “joy” I feel when I am gratified by something; and then there is true joy, which involves rejoicing in another. The first reading says that the Lord is going to clothe us in wedding garments. The joy we feel as Christians is the joy of someone who is getting married. This is the joy of giving oneself, not a joy that measures the value of something in terms of how beneficial it is to me. John the Baptist in the Gospel reading is a prime example of a person who is walking in the joy of the Lord. His entire mission is to point out Christ. He will not tell us who he is himself, only who he is not. He describes himself as a “voice”, but the words he speaks are the words of another and they are dedicated to showing the way to Christ the true light. Adam and Eve tried to make themselves the centre of existence, the light of their own world, but they fell into darkness. John the Baptist, by contrast, moves to the side and allows Jesus to come in. He allows the light to shine. John prepared the way for the Lord to come and Jesus will come into our lives too this Christmas if we stand aside and let him in, just as John stood aside! Our mission is not to serve ourselves but to point to another. In the age we live, humanity blesses its own name. We must learn to bless the name of the Lord
Joy is always a proper state for the Christian, even in the midst of penitence
This is Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of Joy. Advent and Lent are both seasons of penitence, but both are broken by joyful celebrations on the fourth Sunday of Lent and the third Sunday of Advent. The Church is always joyful because it is primarily oriented towards Easter, towards new life. Therefore it is always turned away from the abyss and looking towards the heavens. Rejoicing is the proper state of the follower of Christ, not the state of sadness! Even in the midst of tribulation the Christian is capable of joy, but this is not to say that we are out of touch with reality. Our joy is a joy that is full of wisdom and fully cognizant of the negative realities in the world. The root of the word “gladness” in Italian (“letizia”) is also used for compost - it is something fertile! Christian gladness is a fertile state of being: it leads to something better and more beautiful.
The joy that we experience in Advent is like the joy of getting married. It is not a joy focussed on oneself but a joy that involves self-giving
The first reading prepares us for this new understanding of gladness or joy. It says: “I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God”. The speaker is to be wrapped in the garments of a wedding ceremony, like a groom wearing a crown, or a bride wearing her jewels. The Lord treats me as if I am about to enter a wedding ceremony and encounter another person. The joy of entering a wedding relationship is a particular type of joy. We can imagine a person living in solitude who enters into relationship with others only if those relationships are beneficial to himself. Entering into the marriage relationship is joyful but it involves donating myself to the other. A meagre meal eaten in company is more joyful than exquisite food eaten alone or in anger. The marriage relationship is like the earth that produces green shoots. It is fertile to the extent that it involves self-giving and dying to oneself.
John is a person whose focus is not on himself. He is a voice, but he allows another to speak through him.
Let us consider the Gospel in this light. Once again the text is focussed on John the Baptist. The passage is a bit curious in that it involves a series of negations. A man named John is sent from God to bear witness to the light. We are told that John himself is not the light, and when the officials ask him who he is, he denies that he is the Christ, Elijah or the prophet. “So who exactly are you then?” John replies, “I am the voice of one crying in the desert.” This does not tell us who John is either! He is only the voice - the words come from somebody else. John the Baptist bears witness to the light, but he himself is not light. How important this discourse is! John is the point of entry for the public ministry of Jesus. He has learned to be free from himself. God is working through him. In fact, Jesus says that his equal has never been born – he is the most extraordinary man in history up to that point. But he knows how to keep himself apart and be the voice for another. How liberating it is not to take oneself too seriously!
Adam and Eve tried to make themselves the centre, the light, and they fell into darkness. They failed to see that we are invited to a wedding relationship with him, not to a self-gratifying relationship with reality
What is the problem with Adam and Eve in Genesis 3? They try to place themselves at the centre of life, and as a result they become lost in darkness. How wonderful and illuminating is the figure of John the Baptist! He prepared the way for the Lord to come, and the Lord always comes when we put ourselves to one side. For we are invited to a marriage, not to a self-gratifying relationship with the Lord. We are called to fix our gaze on him and not on ourselves. We are asked to be his witnesses, not advocates for ourselves. How boring it is to listen to Christians who wish to speak primarily about what they have done, and who speak too little about what God has done. It gives us infinitely more dignity when we keep ourselves in our proper place, when we know how small we are, when we appreciate that our lives are directed not towards ourselves, but towards something else.
Our age is an age in which humanity blesses its own name. Advent is about learning to bless the Lord’s name when he comes. And he will certainly come if we move to the side.
We are living in an epoch where the human being has made himself the centre, the light, the focal point of reality. How can a creature as impoverished as I am put himself at the centre of reality! What we need to discover, instead, is that we are central only as far as the love of God is concerned. God is central, but he wishes to love us, marry us, to place a crown on our head and a ring on our hand. He wishes to unite with us and make us vest ourselves in the robe of justice, with the beautiful mantle of his love. And we must make ourselves small, make space for him in our lives. We must be able to say, “I was sent by God. It is not me who determines my mission and direction in life. My task is obedience and to follow the plan God has laid out for me. My task is to bear witness to the light, not present myself as the light”. In the spiritual life we often encounter people who have a messianic complex to some degree or other, people who present themselves as saviours of others. But only Christ can save! Let us learn to relativize our own significance! It is thanks to God that we are able to do the little that we do! If we pretend to be able to raise up others, then we take upon our shoulders an unbearable burden, and we will certainly disappoint. The Advent of the Lord is about blessing his name when he comes, and being free from preoccupation about our own. This is peace, and detachment, and freedom.
