{"id":1976,"date":"2016-12-11T12:24:15","date_gmt":"2016-12-11T17:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1976"},"modified":"2016-12-17T08:53:17","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T13:53:17","slug":"3rd-sunday-of-advent-year-a-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/3rd-sunday-of-advent-year-a-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"3rd Sunday of Advent, Year A – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

3rd<\/sup> Sunday in Advent, Year\u00a0A<\/a>
\nIsaiah 35:1-6a, 10
\nPsalm 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10
\nJames 5:7-10
\nMatthew 11:2-13
\nDecember 11, 2016<\/p>\n

\u201cBe patient.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

These are the words of James offers to the recipients of his letter.\u00a0 What are they to be patient in waiting for?\u00a0 \u201cThe Coming of the Lord.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Letter of James is writing sometime in the 1st<\/sup> century following the death of Jesus.\u00a0 Some of the people reading his letter would have been alive when Jesus lived on Earth as a human being.\u00a0 Some of them may have even seen Jesus face to face.<\/p>\n

With Jesus First Coming still fresh in their minds, they are already waiting in anticipation of his Second Coming.\u00a0\u00a0 Yet they have to wait.\u00a0 Turns out they were not being very patient in their waiting.\u00a0 Some even fear they missed it for they were sure it would happen very soon.<\/p>\n

How good are we at being patient?\u00a0 I know I like to have things done now so I am not good at waiting.\u00a0 No matter what we do, sometimes we just have to wait.<\/p>\n

Here James uses the example of a farmer.\u00a0 In the spring, farmers plow their fields and plant seeds.\u00a0 They can make sure the plants are watered and fertilized but no matter what they do, at some point you have to wait.\u00a0 No matter what we do, it takes time for the plants to grow so the farmer must wait.<\/p>\n

Today, often we want everything now<\/em>.\u00a0 Our responsorial verse today is \u201cLord, come and save us.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 If this was written today one would probably add the word \u201cnow\u201d.\u00a0 Come and save us now<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We might not like to wait but somethings are worth waiting for.\u00a0 Our first readings for Advent come from Isaiah and many of them involve prophecies of what the Messiah would be like.\u00a0 Today\u2019s reading says the Lord will come with vindication, meaning He will make things right.\u00a0 He will open the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf should be cleared, and the lame with leap.<\/p>\n

Jesus came and fulfilled all this but He didn\u2019t come immediately.\u00a0 The Jews had to wait several centuries for Jesus to come.\u00a0 While there were many prophecies about what the Messiah would be like, they did not know when He would come.<\/p>\n

Even John the Baptist wasn\u2019t sure exactly when Jesus would come.\u00a0 Even when Jesus came, John could only hear about him from prison and he wasn\u2019t sure if Jesus was the one so he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was \u201cthe one who is to come<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was Jesus\u2019 response?\u00a0 It was not yes or no.\u00a0 He told them to tell John what they have heard and see.\u00a0 That the \u201cthe blind regain their sight, the lame walk\u2026.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Jesus does this to reveal to us who He is.\u00a0 He fulfills the prophecies.<\/p>\n

We are now in the third week of our new liturgical year.\u00a0 This year we hear predominantly from Matthew\u2019s Gospel on Sundays.\u00a0 For Matthew, it was very important to make sure that the readers of his gospel understand that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies because this might He is the Messiah they have been waiting for.<\/p>\n

It is also important for us to see how Jesus fulfills the messianic prophecies because we have to wait for his coming.\u00a0 Hearing that these prophecies are fulfilled can give us confidence to be willing to wait.<\/p>\n

Yet, many people have given up on waiting and lost the faith.\u00a0 It seems like, no, it doesn\u2019t seem like, it is a fact that fewer and fewer people are coming to church.\u00a0 Some of them have rejected the very notion that there is a god.\u00a0 Some say they believe but they don\u2019t need to come to church.\u00a0 Some just do what I did for years, just fade away.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know about you but I know I need to come.\u00a0 I need to hear reassurances that God loves me.\u00a0 I need to hear the stories of how even when people suffered, God was with them.<\/p>\n

In two weeks we will celebrate Christmas.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure there are some here today who can\u2019t wait for it to get here.\u00a0 Many, many people will celebrate Christmas.\u00a0 I wonder how many of them have no idea what Christmas is about.\u00a0 I even wonder among believers how many will talk about the real meaning of Christmas.<\/p>\n

I mentioned before some of the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.\u00a0 There is one more I want to mention that He includes in what He says to John\u2019s disciples, \u201cand the poor have the good news proclaimed to them<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus came and proclaimed the good news to the people.\u00a0 Today we need to share the good news.\u00a0 We need to talk about our faith.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure some of you are thinking, \u201cI don\u2019t know how to talk about our faith.\u201d\u00a0 I understand but I offer a response in two parts.\u00a0 First, we need to put some effort into learning more about our faith.\u00a0 Secondly, we learn by doing.\u00a0 We can learn how to talk about our faith by doing it.\u00a0 It all begins by you sharing with others what Christmas means to you.<\/p>\n

I know you may have family or friends who will tell you they don\u2019t want to hear about it.\u00a0 Now, the goal is not to force faith upon them but here are some simple places to start.<\/p>\n