Homily: Third Sunday of Advent

December 14, 2025

Dearest brothers and sisters, we are in the third week of our advent preparations for the coming of Jesus. The entire tenor of the liturgy of today reminds us that the coming of Jesus is a thing of joy to the world and those who sincerely open their hearts to Jesus, their joy will be complete and everlasting. This third Sunday of advent is normally called Gaudete Sunday from the Latin word, ‘Gaudete’ meaning ‘rejoice.’ The entrance antiphon for today’s Mass is taken from Philippians 4:4-5, which says “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.” Also, in the Opening Prayer of today, we begged God, “enable us, we pray, to attain the joys of so great a salvation and to celebrate them always with solemn worship and glad rejoicing.” Further we began the liturgy of today with lighting the third advent candle of joy.

All these together tell us the mind of the Church on this third Sunday of Advent. The coming of Jesus to the world and into our lives is a Good News, a mega-gift which God packaged to bring us the highest and everlasting joy. Prophet Amos prophesied in Amos 3:7, “the Lord God does nothing, without revealing His secret to his servants the prophets.” Since the beginning of this advent season, we have always read from the prophet Isaiah. It is clear that abundance of such secrets of the divine plans were revealed to the prophet Isaiah about the immense joy which the coming of the Messiah would bring to the world.

In the first reading of today, Isaiah continued his prophecy of a glorious, joy-filled forth coming messianic era. The time of this prophesy might be considered the worst period in the history of the people of Israel. They were completely defeated and enslaved in the land of Babylon; the temple of Jerusalem and the glories of Jerusalem were in ruins. Yet, Isaiah was very optimistic, he was insistent that joy was coming. In his words, ‘the wilderness and dry land shall be glad (...) the glory of Lebanon shall be given to it (…) they shall see the glory of the Lord and the majesty of our God.’ This prophecy points beyond the reconstruction of the temple of Jerusalem to the glorious joy which the coming of Jesus would bring to us. A similar hope of glorious golden messianic era is seen also in the second reading, the apostles James encourages the disciples: be patient, strengthen your hearts, do not grumble against one another, for the Lord is near.

In the gospel, this joy became manifesting in the actions of Jesus. There appeared to be a confusion whether Jesus actually is the Messiah who is to come. John the Baptist had prophesied about him that he would baptize with fire, he would come with his winnowing fork. He would be like a severe judge who would cut down useless trees, sweep clean the threshing floor, separate the grain from the chaff and burn all that was not clean and pure. However, far from these expectations, the Messiah that they saw became a person who made the blind to see, the lame to walk, the lepers to be cleansed, the deaf to hear, the dead to be raised, the Messiah who eats with sinners, who preaches the good news of salvation to the poor, the Messiah who came to bring joy to the world. John the Baptist was forced to send his disciples to ask Jesus whether He is the promised Messiah or were they to expect another.

Brothers and sisters, we are not expecting another Messiah, Jesus is the Messiah that has come to bring joy to the world and restore everything to its wholeness. Christianity is a religion of joy and love; Jesus the founder gave it a human face. Some erroneous minds tend to think that abiding by the commandments of God is a yoke, that for one to be a Christian, one’s face must be distorted to depict the weight of the heavy cross that Christians carry, one must wear a grimaced face like ancient Rabbis. It is far from the truth. We must appreciate and live this joy of God’s children which Christ brings to us this season and radiate same joy and love to everybody around us. As far back as 1719, Isaac Watts wrote the wordings of the poem ‘Joy to the World.’ The message of that poem is simple and ad rem today. The coming of Jesus is a joy to the world, every heart must make Him a room, every heart must repeat this sounding joy, and with joy and gratitude, every heart must radiate the glories of His righteousness and the wonders of His love.