3rd Sunday of Advent

15 December 2024

Lectionary Readings: Zeph.3:14-18a; Psalm Is.12:2-6; Phil. 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18

Theme: Rejoice, the Lord is near!

The Gospel of last week (Luke 3:1-6) introduced us to John the Baptist, one of the four characters who help us to prepare for Christmas. The other three are the prophet Isaiah, Joseph and Mary. In the gospel for today verses 10-14, John helps the different groups in the crowd to prepare a way for the coming Messiah. Because of his charisma the crowd begin to wonder in the air of expectancy whether he is the promised Christ. John is emphatic about his role: “I baptize you with water, but there is one coming who is more powerful than I am. I am not worthy to loosen the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” John’s exhortations to the crowd were to prepare them (and us) for the way of life expected of them as the good news about the promised One of God. So, John as the new Elijah proclaims the Christ among them (and us).

What does the Good News ask from us? Joy – the name of the 3^rd Sunday ‘Gaudate’ Rejoice! I looked at the other readings for today to count how many times ‘joy’ or variations of it appeared: 11 times.

The prophet Zephaniah encourages us to “rejoice and exult with all your heart.” The Hebrew word for ‘rejoice’ – ‘gheel’; ‘rejoice and be glad’ – ‘saw-makh’. Strong’s 8056 is ‘sameach’.

Our psalm exhorts us to “Shout and sing for joy”.

Paul’s first word to the Philippians gives the Latin name to this Sunday. The Greek is Strong’s 5463 ‘chairo’ from ‘charis’ (5485) grace.  So, rejoice means to be filled with God’s grace. It was John’s charisma that drew the crowd to him and then through that calling he drew the crowd to Jesus – the Good News of God, who was often surrounded by a crowd in need.

Leon Bloy (1846-1917) maintained that “the most infallible presence of God in a person is joy.” We note that in the first reading we have the assurance that “you need never again fear any harm” (v. 15). In Paul’s letter we read “do not worry about anything” (v. 6) and ^“Then the peace of God, which is beyond all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (v.7) We read in Nehemiah 8:10: “do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

For Reflection and Discussion: 1. I have taken three gifts that come with joy: no fear, peace and strength. What other gifts come with joy according to our readings for today? 2. How are you going to continue your preparation for the remembrance of Christ’s first coming and for his second coming to present us to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit?

Bibliography: www.biblegateway.com – New Catholic Bible (NCB); www.bing.com – bible hub – Strong’s concordance; Thurston, Bonnie Bowman, PHD. “Paul’s Fundamentals of Faith” (4) 

This week’s Sunday Liturgy Commentary was prepared by
Bernadette Teresa Chellew, KZN, South Africa; Bat Kol Alumna: 2008

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