Sunday Homilies by Fr. Rudolf V. D’ Souza

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Third Sunday of Advent
December 16, 2007 Year: A
Is 35:1-6, 10; Jas 5:7-10; Mt 11:2-11
Blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear

First Reading...
“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.

Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.  He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense.

He will come and save you.”

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.  And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” [Is. 35:1-6a, 10] 

Second Reading...
"Be patient, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord." [Jas 5:7-10]

Gospel Reading...
When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples who said to Jesus, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"

Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'

"Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." [Mt. 11:2-11]

Incident:
One day a parishioner approached me and said that he is going to resign from the post of being Parish Pastoral Council Member. I asked him why he was doing so. He said that he was fed up of people complaining against him. Then I said to him, “if you were in my place what would you do? Run away from here? Here I am dear friend, day and night listening to complaints of people. They will never see what good you have been doing. They will only see what you have not done. All the good you have done will be unnoticed, because it is good, and normally good things are just over looked. Her am I attending sick calls, listening to people with problems of family life, sons and daughters not listening to them, some becoming addicts, others steal, and many others neglect their studies, and adding to that there are marriage on rocks, how to solve them? Besides, there are choir problems of the parish, each group complaining about others. Moreover, there are some who do not like to listen to others reading. They feel that they are born lectors, each time some one else is reading they are dissatisfied. A few who are never satisfied about the liturgy in the church, and at times even not understanding what the word “liturgy” means, and they are the ones when they do something wrong accept themselves as perfect liturgists. Well, there is not point in satisfying all. Just take it with a sense of humor and things will be alright.” “If you were” I told him, “in my place, you would have run away from this parish. Work for the Lord and do not work for people who criticize you. Just love them with Christ’s love. Things will be fine.” The gentleman shook my hands and left the office with a smile never to complain and think about his resignation.

These words echo the Words of Jesus, "Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get." [Mt. 7:1-2]

When some one does something extraordinary, a sense of awe spreads easily. Then people start speaking about the person performing it. Well, that was the case with Jesus. People were speaking about him. He became popular. But the disciples of John the Baptist did not hear that much about Jesus, and they were simply not knowing about Jesus. So Jesus himself enlightens them saying, look, all these things have been happening and this you can report to John and he will certainly perceive that the promised one is here amidst you.

Helpful Story:
Ernest Gordon has written a book entitled Through the Valley of the Kwai in which he describes spending a large part of World War II as a prisoner in Thailand on the banks of the river Kwai. He worked on a railway which the Japanese were building.  Over 12,000 allied prisoners died of starvation building the railway. Gordon says their worst enemy was not the Japanese but themselves.  The law of the jungle took over among them.  They stole from each other, and informed on each other to win favors from the Japanese.  Morale was at rock bottom.  Two men whose faith kept them going decided to try to do something.  They organized Bible reading and discussion groups (pages 100-107 in the book).  They met at night and at first the numbers were small but after not too long the numbers grew to the hundreds.  When reading the Bible they noticed that Jesus faced the same problems as themselves, he often had no place to lay his head, no food for his belly, no friends in high places. He too had known bone-weariness from too much toil, the suffering, rejection and disappointments that are part of the fabric of life.  Everything about Jesus began to make sense.  The prisoners underwent a change of heart and stopped destroying one another as they had been doing.  Reading the Bible and using it for prayer and discussion transformed a prison camp.  

The First Reading from the Book of Isaiah [Is. 35:1-6a, 10] echoed the anticipation of God's chosen people. The people believed that God would come and save them from their worldly suffering. To them, God's coming was perceived as a second Exodus.

In their perception of the coming of the promised Messiah, the people visualized a transformation of the physical world where the entire creation would rejoice. They envisioned blooming deserts that would manifest the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. [Is. 35:1-2]

Jesus works miracles even today, through his word. We need to look at Jesus through the word of God. He will certainly heal us. Third Sunday of Advent continues to prepare us for the coming of the Lord Jesus among us. During this special time of Advent, we are called to embrace a holy mind so that we may perceive for the benefit of our spiritual growth the true spiritual meaning of the Words of God that we have just heard. 

Incident:
I had the privilege of directing a retreat in Goa recently. I decided to conduct this retreat fully based on Scripture. Instead of giving talks every day as in the more common retreats I met each retreatant in my group for approximately 30 minutes each day for a chat about their lives and praying with the Scriptures. I suggested a passage of Scripture to them to suit whatever matters they discussed and I asked them to pray that day using that piece of Scripture.  The following day when we met again we discussed how praying with that passage of Scripture helped or answered the situation of their lives.  Then I recommended another piece of Scripture for prayer that day and we met again the following day and so on for the whole week. It was a most beautiful experience for me because I could see the Lord leading and guiding people through the Scriptures.  A few people began the retreat carrying heavy burdens but through praying the Scriptures every day as the week passed the Lord touched them and uplifted them. Instead of concentrating on their own troubles at the beginning of the week I saw the Lord lead some at the end of the week to work for his kingdom with renewed vigor.  Their lives were changed! How?  By spending one week praying with the Scriptures.

Jesus works miracles even today. He is the one who has to help us to prepare the way for him. We need to open our hearts. He can guide us through various circumstance of life.

How about talking about John? He is the greatest among born of women. Well, that means he is the greatest. But the one who is least in the kingdom is greater than he. That is why St. James tells us: "Be patient, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord." [Jas 5:7-10]

Strengthen your hearts be ready for the Lord’s coming.

This is the message of today. Keep on doing good. People will see the good you have done. But there is no cure for those people who cannot see the good. They are like people who look and look, but cannot see as Jesus says in the Gospels (Mt. 13.10-17).

Jesus continued his mission without fail. He did not mind whether people saw him or not. His deeds confirmed that he was the son of God.

We on our part must continue to work hard. There is a tendency when people do not appreciate us, we give up. That should not happen. We are doing our work for God.

In the meantime, we must bear our crosses by persevering in our suffering, suffering through the ordinary trials of life and suffering through outrageous injustices such as the persecution of Christians. Both have their merits and bless us with graces according to our sufferings. No matter what we suffer, like the farmer who patiently awaits for the earth to produce the precious crops, we too must be extremely patient. May the Lord strengthen our hearts in holiness that we may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of Jesus with all His saints (1 Thess. 3:13)

While awaiting the coming of the Lord, may our gentleness be known to everyone. For the Lord is near. [Phil. 4:5] May we not neglect to meet together, encourage one another, all the more as we see the Day approaching. (Heb. 10:25) "For yet 'in a very little while the one who is coming will come and will not delay.'" (Hab. 2:3; Heb. 10:37)

Those who embrace a spiritual mind, they understand these Words. They submit themselves to the Divine Will of the Lord in obedience and servitude. They are among the blind who have received their sight. For they know the promise of the Lord for those who persevere to the end. "See, I am coming soon; My reward is with Me, to repay according to everyone's work." (Rev. 22:12)

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