{"id":1966,"date":"2022-12-07T14:03:24","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T14:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=1966"},"modified":"2022-12-07T14:59:06","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T14:59:06","slug":"12-december-2022-a-third-sunday-of-advent-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=1966","title":{"rendered":"12 December 2022 (A) Third Sunday of Advent (A)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A. The bible<\/em> as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue: <\/em><\/strong>Jesus Christ the\ncause of our joy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Reading <\/em>(Isaiah 35:1-6, 10). God himself is coming to save you. <\/em>The\nbook of Isaiah, from which the present reading is taken, is a large volume of\nsixty-six chapters. Today it is usual to see three divisions in the work,\ncomposed or combined at different times: chapters 1-39; chapters 40-55 and\n56-66. It is in the first division, 1-39, that any information on the on the\nprophet Isaiah, active between 740-700 BC, is to be found, The second division,\n40-55 (Second Isaiah), described as \u201cthe Book of Consolation\u201d, by a poet and prophet,\naddresses  discourses of encouragement to\nthe Jewish exiles in Babylon about 540 BC telling them that they will be\npermitted to return to the homeland, and foretelling a glorious return and\nfuture. It is now generally accepted that this large book was put together over\na long period of time and that some portions of division one are later than the\nage of  the prophet Isaiah himself. This\nis true in a special way for chapter 35, from which our reading is taken. The\nbackground and the imagery reflect the era or Second Isaiah, and the promise of\nthe return of the exile to Jerusalem and Judah.\nBut some of its prophecies, directed in the first instance to the exiles in Babylon, would be fully\nfulfilled later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   To return to the text itself: First of all there\nis an invitation to various barren places (wilderness, dry-lands, wasteland) to\nexult, because they are to bloom, with the beauty of well-known glorious places\n(Lebanon, Carmel, Sharon). Then there is a call to bring courage to the weary\n(the exiles in the first instance). Their God is coming to save them, coming to\ndefeat his and their enemies. In this context the terms \u201cvindication\u201d and\n\u201cretribution\u201d are used, but in parallelism with \u201cto save\u201d, and here mean the\nsame thing as \u201cto save\u201d, not in their traditional negative sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   After this the miracles promised for thr new\nage are listed, on the blind, the deaf, the lame and the dumb. In the first\ninstance, for the first readers or listeners, these are probably figures for\nthe exiled people in Babylon, those ransomed by\nGod who were to return rejoicing to Zion (Jerusalem), with an end to\nsorrow and lament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   The prophecy on the miracles promised will be\nfulfilled by Jesus, who refers indirectly to this text in his answer to the\nenvoys of the Baptist, as narrated in today\u2019s Gospel reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial Psalm <\/em>(Psalm 145[146]). Come, Lord, and save us.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading\n<\/em>(James 5:7-10). Do not lose heart,\nbecause the Lord\u2019s coming will be soon.<\/em> There is a great variety of\nmaterial in the Letter of James, between teaching and counsels. He uses strong\nlanguage against the rich oppressors who refuse to pay their wages to those who\nmow their fields. Those to whom he writes appear to have laboured under diverse\npressures. Towards the end of the letter, in today\u2019s reading, he gives advice\nthat could hold good for most ages and conditions of the Christian experience,\nwith emphasis on being patient and persevering. He speaks of the Lord\u2019s coming,\nbut it is not altogether clear whether by \u201cLord\u201d  God or the coming of Christ as intended. The\nbackground to the letter is somewhat like that of sections of the Gospel. He\ngives the example of the farmer. As an example of patience he instances the\nprophets, but does not say how exactly these were examples. In Jewish tradition\nall the prophets were believed to have suffered persecution and this may be\nwhat is intended. But it is also possible that he has something else in mind:\nthe prophets looked forward to the fulfilment of their prophecies but had to\nawait patiently for God to do this. The prophets needed patience, faith and\nperseverance. The Epistle to the Hebrews lays stress on this truth when\nencouraging perseverance for its readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel<\/em> (Matthew\n11:2-11). Are you the one who is to come,\nor have we got to wait for someone else. <\/em>This reading constitutes an\nexcellent contrast with last Sunday\u2019s Gospel text. In that Gospel passage John\nthe precursor of the One who was to come would have the winnowing-fan in his\nhand to separate good from evil and burn the wicked (chaff) in the fire. Jesus,\nproclaimed by him as the One who was to come, was doing the direct opposite, a\nfriend of the marginalized and of those reckoned as sinners by the godly. For\ncriticizing Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee,\nJohn the Baptist was thrown into prison, but continued to have disciples. On\nhearing of what Jesus was doing, John had doubts about Jesus, and this explains\nsending the messengers with John\u2019s query. In his reply Jesus lists his actions\none by one, all the fulfilment of prophecies, especially those listed in Isaiah\nchapter 35 (today\u2019s first reading), and in other places in the book of Isaiah\n(26:19, the dead; 29:18, the deaf; 61:1, the good news to he poor). Jesus\npraises John highly, a prophet whose coming was predicted in the book of Malachi\n(3:1), but yet makes a clear distinction between the Old Testament and the New\nAge, being introduced by himself. John stood at the threshold of the New Age,\nbut belonged to the Old. Between John, Jesus and his disciples there is a\nradical break, the new being superior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection &\nDialogue: <\/em><\/strong>Jesus Christ the cause of our joy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally this third Sunday of\nAdvent was known as \u201cGaudete <\/em>Sunday\u201d\nfrom the opening word Gaudete,<\/em>\n\u201cRejoice\u201d in the Latin Entrance Antiphon: \u201cRejoice in the Lord always; again I\nsay rejoice. Indeed the Lord is near\u201d. In one sense the basis for rejoicing is\nthe nearness of  the Lord. Some biblical\nscholars believe that the \u201cnearness\u201d in question refers to the second coming of\nChrist \u2013 a point by no means clear. In any event, Christian joy is not founded\non belief and expectation of the second coming of Christ. Together with peace,\nit is a gift from Christ. This joy is a gift that no one can take from\nbelievers in Christ (John 16:22). Jesus\u2019 desire is that believers may have his\njoy made complete in themselves (John 17:13). He told his disciples to rejoice\nand be glad when people revile them and persecute them and slander them for his\nsake, and Paul and his early Christians so rejoiced.                                                                                           <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this may appear to be too theoretical,\nwith little or no bearing on any dialogue with the world in which we live. This\nis not quite the case. If joy is a gift from Christ it is active in the entire\nlife of believers, not just in religious affairs. The Church currently is kept\naware of the scandals and weaknesses within her, but believers know that with\nthe grace of God she is being purified and these will become a thing of the\npast. Christian joy comes from belief in God who is ever present. When we look\naround us we can perceive joy \u2013 joy at sport events, at football matches where\none\u2019s favourite team is supported, but in case of defeat there is no\nrecrimination for something that is but a game. This is evidence of joy and\npeace. There is joy in conversation, over a drink, with \u201ccraic\u201d and music, and\nin many of the ordinary events of life. And in times of trouble there can also\nbe joy, in the belief that God is near and will see us through. These are a few\nof the thoughts worth reflecting on on this \u201cRejoicing\u201d Sunday \u2013 recalling St Paul\u2019s words: \u201cRejoice\nin the Lord always; again I say Rejoice. The Lord is near\u201d,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A. The bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings) B. Reflection & Dialogue: Jesus Christ the cause of our joy  The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-readings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1966"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1980,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1966\/revisions\/1980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}