The third Sunday of Advent is known
as “Gaudete Sunday.”
In the readings, we hear about
miracles associated with the Messianic age, its coming, and what we need to do
to prepare.
We also learn about the doubts of
John the Baptist, how he dealt with them, and the blessing that makes us even
more fortunate than John was.
Here are 11 things to know and
share:
1. Why
is the third Sunday of Advent known as Gaudete Sunday?
Its name is taken from the entrance antiphon
of the Mass, which is: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed,
the Lord is near.”
This is a quotation from Philippians 4:4-5, and in Latin, the first word of the
antiphon is gaudete (Latin, “rejoice”; it's
also pronounced with three syllables: gau-de-te)
2. What Significance does this have?
Advent is the season of preparing
for the arrival of the Lord Jesus (both his first coming and his second
coming), and by the third Sunday of Advent, we are most of the way through the
season.
Thus it is appropriate to rejoice as
we see the goal of the season approaching: “The Lord is near.”
3. What
is the appropriate liturgical color for this day?
According to the rubrics: In this
mass the color violet or rose is used. It can thus be either one. It doesn't have to be rose; it can also be violet.
4. What
does the first reading say?
The
first reading is Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10. It opens with a prophecy that the desert
region will rejoice and sing and bloom with abundant flowers. The reason is:
“They will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.”
It then contains an exhortation to
strength and courage, and explains the reason why: Here is your God, he comes with
vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you.
It then contains the significant
statement: Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be
cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will
sing.
And it concludes: Those whom the
LORD has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting
joy; they will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee.
5. What
does this mean?
This prophecy uses nature imagery to
convey the sense of joy that the Jewish people would experience upon their
return from exile.
This is what is meant by the
statements that the desert will sing and be covered with flowers that “see the
glory of the Lord.”
It depicts God’s coming with
vindication to save his people after their exile, and it depicts urges patience
until it arrives.
It portrays God working miracles
among his people, such as healing the blind, the deaf, the lame, and the mute.
It promises that he will bring back
those he has ransomed and give them everlasting joy, from which sorrow and
mourning will flee.
Taken up into the Christological
realm, this passage points to the joy of those God redeems through Jesus from
their sins and the deliverance and spiritual homeland that he provides.
It contains elements that point
forward to both the first advent of Christ—when he performed miracles such as
curing the blind, the deaf, the lame, and the mute.
And it contains elements that point
forward to the ultimate consummation that will occur with his second advent,
when “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor
pain any more, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).
6. What
does the Responsorial Psalm say?
The Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 146:6-10.
It contains a series of praises of
God, stressing the good things that he does: He keeps faith forever, secures
justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry, sets captives free, etc.
Among the notable things that the
Psalm declares is this: The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The reading concludes: The LORD
shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations.
7. What
does this mean?
The Psalm gives voice to the worship
of God’s faithful on behalf of his wondrous deeds, including miracles, such as
the restoration of sight to blind people.
This particular miracle was also
mentioned in the third reading, and it will become significant again in the
Gospel reading.
The conclusion of the reading—the
statement that God will reign forever—gives voice to our confidence in God and
his ever-present providence in our lives.
On a Christological level, it also
points to the eternal reign of the Son, which has been inaugurated with the
first coming and which will be consummated at the second coming.
8. What
does the Second Reading say?
The
second reading is James 5:7-10. It
contains an exhortation to be patient until the coming of the Lord.
James compares the patience the
reader must have to that of a farmer, who must wait until his crop “receives
the early and the late rains.”
As in the Psalm for today, James
exhorts the readers to strength and courage (“Make your hearts firm”) because
“the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
He also tells them not to complain
about each other, that they may not be judged.
Finally, he tells them that the
Judge is standing before the gates and that they should follow the prophets as
an example of hardship and patience.
9. What
does this mean?
Rain did not fall year-round in
Israel, but only at certain times. The early rains took place from mid-October to
mid-November, and later rains took place from mid-December to mid-January.
There were also rains in March and April.
Farmers were thus dependent on the
arrival of these rains for the success of their crops and had to wait patiently
for the rains to come and the crops to ripen.
The prophets, likewise, had to
endure hardship and patience, particularly because their prophetic mission
caused opposition—just as the Christian message did (and does).
These
facts make both the farmers and the prophets models of patience and endurance
for Christians in James’s day—and in ours.
Ultimately, God will reward our
faith and patience, but we must be prepared to wait and to endure hardship.
As we do so, we must live in harmony
with each other. One manifestation of this is resisting the urge to complain
about each other, for in the way we judge others, we too will be judged. (That
is, if we are unmerciful to others, we will obtain less mercy for ourselves.)
This latter statement is noteworthy
because of how well it harmonizes with things Jesus says. James does not
directly quote his kinsman, Jesus, in his letter, but as this passage shows,
his thought was permeated by that of Christ.
10. What
does the Gospel Reading say?
The
Gospel reading is Matthew 11:2-11. The reading contains two parts.
In the first, John the Baptist, who
is in prison, sends messengers to Jesus to ask “Are you the one who is to come
or should we look for another?”
Jesus replies by telling them to
report to John what they have seen: the blind regain their sight, the lame
walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor
have the good news proclaimed to them.
He adds: And blessed is the one who
takes no offense at me.
In the second part of the reading,
as the messengers are preparing to leave, Jesus pays tribute to John the
Baptist by asking the crowd a series of rhetorical questions about why they
went out into the desert to see John when he was ministering.
The implied answer to the questions
is “no” (no, they did not go out to see a reed shaken by the wind or someone
dressed in fine clothing) until he names going out to see a prophet.
At this point Jesus affirms that
they did go out to see a prophet, “and more than a prophet.”
He then identifies why John is more
than a prophet: He is the fulfillment of Malachi 3:1, in which it is said: Behold,
I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you.
Finally, Jesus states: Amen, I say
to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the
Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
11. What
does this mean?
The Jewish people in Jesus’ day had
certain ideas about what the Messiah would be like and what he would do.
It was common to envision him as an
earthly king who would deliver Israel from the dominion of the hated Romans by
violent revolution.
John
the Baptist may have shared some of this expectation, for even though he had
received a revelation pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:30-34).
Despite this revelation, Jesus’
subsequent actions (his failure to start a revolution?) apparently caused John
to question whether Jesus was the Messiah.
Rather than lose faith or let his
doubts eat away at him, John decided to confront the issue directly, and so he
sent his disciples to ask Jesus if his understanding of Jesus’ Messiaship was
correct.
Jesus indicated that it was,
pointing to the fact that he had been fulfilling the predicted miracles and the
preaching of the good news proper to the Messianic age.
One of these miracles was the
recovery of sight to the blind (already mentioned in the first reading and the
responsorial Psalm).
Jesus then states that those who do
not take offense at him (i.e., who do not reject him) are blessed.
In the original context, it applies
to John the Baptist (he will be blessed for maintaining faith in Jesus, despite
his doubts).
The same principle, however, applies
to us as well.
As John’s messengers are departing,
Jesus pays tribute to their master, stating that he was a genuine prophet—and
even more than that—he was the messenger prophesied in Malachi, who would be
the herald of the Messiah.
This makes him the greatest prophet
of all, which is why Jesus says that among those born of women, none has been
greater than John.
Despite this, Jesus states that “the
least in the kingdom of heaven” is even greater.
In this context, the kingdom of
heaven is understood in its earthly manifestation as the Church, in the Christian
age, which John did not live to see.
Every Christian—man, woman, and
child—is more blessed than John because we didn't just get to herald him. We
get to live in the age he inaugurated, to share in its many blessings, and to
be part of his mystical Body.
(That also goes for his mother,
Mary, incidentally).
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About
Jimmy Akin: Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age
20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a
Protestant pastor or seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the
Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to
support the Catholic faith. Eventually, he entered the Catholic Church. His
conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is a
Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to This Rock magazine, and a weekly guest on
"Catholic Answers Live."
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