by Fr. Tommy Lane
John the Baptist was out in the desert. Jewish priests and Levites went to him in a state of bewilderment. They wondered if he might be the Messiah. For any one of us, life could sometimes seem a bit like a desert, and we might ask, “Where is the Lord?” John the Baptist’s answer to those who asked was, “The Lord is coming.” Whenever we are in the desert, whether it is because of Covid-19 (2020) or anything else, and we wonder about the Lord, the answer is not only “The Lord is coming” but “The Lord is with you. The Lord has not abandoned you.” Sometimes people think that because they are suffering God has abandoned them. That is not the case. Whenever we are in the desert, whether it is because of Covid-19 or anything else, and we wonder about the Lord, the Lord is with us. God’s love for you has not changed even when suffering and sorrow come your way.
Our first reading today reminds us of God’s love for us in Jesus. The first part of that reading today could be seen as a description of Jesus:
The spirit of Lord is on me
for the
Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring the news to the
poor,
to heal the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to
captives,
release to those in prison. (Isa 61:1)
This could indeed be seen as a description of Jesus because when Jesus gave his sermon in Nazareth, he read that passage and said, “Today this Scripture passage is being fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:18-21) It gives consolation to those who are in a desert of any kind—Jesus brings good news to the poor, healing to the broken-hearted, liberty to captives, release to those in prison. Those whose hearts are broken, who are not free and are captive in any way to anything, should not think that they are deprived of God’s love. On the contrary, God’s love wants to reach out to them all the more. Anyone in any kind of desert needs to remember the famous text in Isaiah (7:14) about a young woman giving birth and naming her child Emmanuel, which means God-with-us. We see the woman as Our Lady giving birth to Jesus. Emmanuel describes Jesus’ mission: God with us. He is with us. When Pope Francis visited a hostel in Rome in 2015, this was part of his homily:
God comes to save us. He finds no better way to do so than to walk with us, living our life, and at the moment of choosing the way to live his life, he didn’t choose a great city of a great empire; he did not choose a princess or a countess for his Mother, an important person; he didn’t choose a luxurious palace. It seems as if everything was intentionally done in near obscurity. (Caritas Hostel in Via Marsala, December 18, 2015)
If we are in a desert of any kind, God is with us.
I said the first part of our first reading today reminds us of God’s love for us in Jesus (Isa 61:1). The second half of that reading models how we might respond to God’s love of us. So that first reading today is like a dialogue between God and us. Following God’s love for us in the first half of the reading, this is part of our response in the second half:
I exult for joy in the Lord,
my soul
rejoices in my God,
for he has clothed me in garments of
salvation,
he has wrapped me in a cloak of saving justice (Isa
61:10)
Our response to God is to be one of joy and rejoicing which of course is symbolized by the rose candle on the Advent wreath today. So, there is to be a dialogue between God and us: God sending us Jesus to be with us no matter what desert we are in and we responding by exulting for joy and rejoicing. God loves us and we love God in return.
Our response to God’s love for us continues in the Psalm which today is Our Lady’s Magnificat, her hymn of praise to God when she visited Elizabeth.
My soul glorifies the Lord;
my spirit
rejoices in God my Savior…
The Almighty has done great things for
me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation. (Luke 1:46-47, 49-50)
Can we make Our Lady’s prayer our own? Can we pray as Our Lady?
My soul glorifies the Lord;
my spirit
rejoices in God my Savior…
The Almighty has done great things for
me,
and holy is his Name. (Luke 1:46-47, 49)
Our response to God’s love for us continues in the second reading. Paul wrote,
Be happy at all times; pray constantly; and for all things give thanks to God. (1 Thes 5:16)
Even if we are in a desert of suffering, can we at least try to pray and give thanks to God?
Whenever we are in the desert, whether it is because of Covid-19 or anything else, and we wonder about the Lord, the Lord is with us. God’s love for you has not changed even when suffering and sorrow come your way. Those whose hearts are broken, who are not free and are captive in any way to anything, should not think that they are deprived of God’s love. On the contrary, God’s love wants to reach out to them all the more. Can we pray as Our Lady?
My soul glorifies the Lord;
my spirit
rejoices in God my Savior…
The Almighty has done great things for
me,
and holy is his Name
(Luke 1:46-47, 49)
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2020
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Third Sunday of Advent Year B
Only in God are true and lasting happiness and joy 2008
Related Homilies: God is offering you a grace this Advent
Advent: preparing our hearts for the the Second Coming of Jesus