Dec 13, 2020 - 3rd Sunday in Advent
(Is 61:1-2A, 10-11 ; 1 Thes 5:16-24 ; Jn 1:6-8, 19-28)
The reading from Isaiah starts out with “The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me..” This is the very passage that Jesus reads when he stands up in the temple in Nazareth to read from the scroll of Isaiah. For over 700 years, the Jews had understood this passage as referring to the coming of the promised Messiah, and here he is, standing before them! And what a joy this prophesy is with its promise of salvation, favor from the Lord, freedom and justice. Today is also called Gaudete Sunday which means “rejoicing,” a theme which carries into the Responsorial Psalm, which is not actually from the book of Psalms. It is Mary's Magnificat from the Gospel of Luke, with the response portion taken from the first reading.
The passage from Isaiah was written during one of the worst times for the Jewish people. They had lost faith in the Lord and were being attacked by the Assyrians. Yet Isaiah chose to rejoice in the Lord amidst their troubles. Likewise, Mary was in an uncomfortable situation that would lead her to giving birth in a stable far from home and having to flee to Egypt, and still she chose to rejoice in the Lord. St. Paul advises the Thessalonians to give thanks “in all circumstances.” We can take this advice from Paul, Mary, and Isaiah to rejoice in the Lord, even in the circumstances we find ourselves today. We always have reason to rejoice in the Lord.
When John the Baptist is questioned in today's Gospel, he talks about the coming Messiah. All Jews of the time were nominally awaiting the coming of the Messiah, so this declaration by John would not have raised any eyebrows. “What else is new?” they might have said. But John goes much further and says something truly surprising. “There is one among you whom you do not recognize.” He implies the Messiah is already there – right now.