Homily Starters, Fr. Tony’s Homily
Homily Starters, Fr. Tony’s Homily
December 14, 2025
December 14, 2025
3rd Sunday of Advent (A)
- ANECDOTES
- EXEGESIS
- LIFE MESSAGES
HOMILY STARTERS
3rd Sunday of Advent (A)
Peanuts: Once Upon A Time…
Snoopy of Charlie Brown comic strip fame is typing a novel. He begins his story, “It was a dark and stormy night …” Snoopy always starts his stories in this manner. Lucy looks at what Snoopy has written. She goes into a tirade, putting down Snoopy for such a silly beginning. Doesn’t Snoopy know that any good story starts with the words, “Once upon a time …” The last frame of the comic strip has Snoopy starting his story again. Now he is ready. He types, “Once upon a time, it was a dark and stormy night.”
Do you feel like Snoopy sometimes? No matter how you begin your story you somehow revert to “a dark and stormy night.” If you feel that way today you are not alone. Most of us are struggling in one way or another to overcome the dark side of our existence. The Advent season leading to Christmas should be a time of joy, anticipation and hope. But the very fact that it is supposed to be such an upbeat time only compounds the problem.
Richard A. Hasler, Empowered by the Light, CSS Publishing Company. Quoted by Fr. Kayala
3rd Sunday of Advent (A)
We Were There, A Nativity Story
EDIE BROADBENT 5:41) – Read Aloud of We Were There A Nativity Story by Eve Bunting. Paintings by Wendell Minor
In her wonderful children’s picture book, We Were There: A Nativity Story, (Illustrator: Wendell Minor), Eve Bunting turns Christmas upside down for us in ways that are revealing. The simple story shows us first a slithering snake, then a warty toad, a scary scorpion, a shiny cockroach, a swooping bat, a hairy spider, and a furry rat all on a journey. Each creature introduces itself and then concludes with the words “I will be there.” As the book ends, we are shown more common nativity creatures: fuzzy lambs, doe-eyed donkeys, gentle cows. But as those traditional figures in the stable stand around the manger in which the Babe has been laid by his mother Mary, we see in the corner, unnoticed, that small gathering of the snake, toad, scorpion, cockroach, bat, spider, and rat.
Bunting has found a lyric way to remind us that the coming of the Christ is not all about the traditional and cozy trappings in which we have for too long ensconced the Christmas story but that this is a story for all creatures and that Jesus came to embrace and renew the good, the bad, the ugly; the expected and the unexpected. A simple children’s story like this reminds us of the paradoxes and unexpected twists of the season, rather the way John the Baptist can shake things up for us if only we take time to listen to his message.
3rd Sunday of Advent (A)
Michael Jordan Playing
With Country Kids?
50 GREATEST PLAYS OF MICHAEL JORDAN’S NBA CAREER (12:37) – This video features his greatest dunks, posterizers, blocks, game winners and more!
One evening at the country park, a group of teenage boys was playing basketball. A tall, bald, African-American man strolled up. The man watched for a few minutes, then asked if he might play with them. He made three-point jump shots and lay-ups and hooks with the ease of a pro. The stranger played for about fifteen minutes with the teenagers, gave them some pointers, thanked them for letting him play, and disappeared. The stranger didn’t tell the teenagers his name. They’d seen Michael Jordan on TV, and he looked like him. But could this stranger who came to a remote village actually be Michael Jordan?
In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist asks the same kind of question about Jesus. Could this gentle Jesus with a band of fishermen as his disciples be the real Messiah, the long awaited Anointed One of God, while the Messiah he had heralded was a firebrand?
3rd Sunday of Advent (A)
Fr. Tony’s Joke of the Week
A man who thought he was John the Baptist was disturbing the neighborhood, so for public safety, he was committed. He was put in a room with another crazy one. The new inmate immediately began his routine, “I am John the Baptist! Jesus Christ has sent me!” The other guy looked at him and declared, “I did not!”
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3rd Sunday of Advent (A)
The first reading offers hope to Jewish exiles in Babylon, promising a “Second Exodus” back to Israel. God assures them He will transform the desert wasteland into a Garden of Eden, strengthen the weak and sick for the journey, and ensure they arrive in Jerusalem crowned with glory. This historical restoration is chosen for Advent because it foreshadows the ultimate salvation and arrival of the Messiah.
3rd Sunday of Advent (A)
The early Church’s expectation of Jesus’ imminent return faded. James urges Christians to be patient, like a farmer waiting for harvest, trusting in God’s unseen work. He calls them to live heroically now, behaving as if Jesus’ influence is already present. The passage concludes with a sober warning that the “Judge stands at the gate,” urging immediate reconciliation with God.
3rd Sunday of Advent (A)
The Gospel explains the context of John the Baptist’s questioning of Jesus. The Jewish people, including John, expected a political Messiah who would overthrow Roman rule and establish an earthly kingdom. Jesus, however, came as a humble, itinerant preacher whose ministry of healing and peaceful teaching, including loving one’s enemies, scandalized many. John, imprisoned by Herod and awaiting liberation, sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Scholars offer two primary explanations for this query: either John wanted his disciples to follow Jesus, or he was genuinely experiencing doubts because Jesus’ ministry did not align with the expected “fire-and-brimstone” Messiah.
Jesus responded not with a rebuke, but by pointing to His works, which directly fulfilled Isaiah’s Messianic prophecies: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news preached to them. Jesus then praised John as the greatest of prophets and the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy of a messenger sent to prepare the way, ultimately confirming His own Messianic identity through His miraculous deeds and John’s prophetic role, despite the unmet political expectations.
3rd Sunday of Advent (A)
We need to learn how to survive a Faith crisis
From a theological perspective, this entire episode helps us to understand how the experience of a Faith crisis can play a role in our spiritual and emotional development. If John the Baptist, even after having had a direct encounter with Jesus the Messiah, could doubt and question his Faith, then so can we. If disillusionment is a necessary precondition for a more resilient Faith, then we, too, must be open to its possibilities. In moments of doubt, despair, and disillusionment, we are, indeed, in good company. Occasional doubts – even horrifying doubts – are one thing, but doubts that persist in the face of every Biblical remedy demand careful attention. Let us remember the truth that our trust and Faith in our Christian dogmas and all the teachings of the Church, are rooted and grounded in the Divinity of Jesus Who taught them, and on His Divine authority by which He authorized the Church to teach what He taught. It is up to us
3rd Sunday of Advent (A)
Go and tell others what you hear and see
In medieval times, this day—the Third Sunday of Advent—was called Gaudete Sunday, as an equivalent to Laetare Sunday during Lent. As we pray today, we also rejoice that the Lord does not fail to show his power and might. We rejoice at the thought that Jesus is going to be reborn in our lives, deepening in us His gifts of love, mercy, forgiveness, and the spirit of humble and sacrificial service during this Christmas season. During this season, let us joyfully share God’s bountiful grace, forgiveness, and mercy with others. What Jesus commanded John’s disciples, he commands us as well: “Go and tell others what you hear and see”. Despite the obvious “signs” and miracles, some people still rejected Jesus (CCC #548). Each of us must strive to interpret the “signs of the times,” and accept the help of the Church and the Holy Spirit (CCC #1788).
3rd Sunday of Advent (A)
We need to open our hearts and let God transform our lives
We, too, should be encouraged by today’s readings. They remind us that our lives can also be transformed, if we are patient and place our trust in God. The message of Advent is that God is present among us, in our everyday lives. We must prepare our hearts to recognize and welcome Him. “If a man is the center of his [own] life, everyone around him becomes hell for him because everyone around him interferes with him and obstructs what he wants to do” (Jean Paul Sartre). Let us believe in our hearts the Gospel message about Jesus given by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Will we allow the Holy Spirit, through these Gospel reports, to create in us this Advent a metánoia — a radical change of our thinking, loving, living, and our very being in relation to God, other people, and ourselves, which will reshape and clarify our purpose for living in this world as He intended when He created us?
Infographics were created using Google Gemini 3 and Nano Banana Pro. Inspiration take from Fr. Tony’s Homilies; Non-profits may freely use this infographic in their publications and/or ministry. Please give credit or a shout out to TheWordThisWeek.NET.