2023

December 17, 2023 – YEAR B

ᐊHOMILIESTOPICSCONNECTIONSPAPAL HOMILIESᐅ

3rd Sunday of Advent B

“The spirit of Lord Yahweh is upon me for Yahweh has anonited me. He has sent me to bring the good news … to proclaim …”(Is 61:1-2). A person, the figure of Christ, feels that he has been assigned a liberating and salvific mission. John the Baptist too, who honestly recognizes his task in God’s plan, knows that he has been sent not to supplant but to bear witness to the light of the Messiah that everyone is expecting (Gospel). Finally, Paul, the Apostle-envoy of Christ, carries out his mission by preaching and through his letters. In this first letter to the Thessalo-nians, he urges them to live in accordance with the salvation that Christ, who was sent by God, has given us (second reading).

DOCTRINAL MESSAGES

3rd Sunday of Advent B

This is perhaps the greatest teaching we can draw from today’s liturgy. The prophet receives a mission for the people that have already returned from their exile in Babylon. Although he will have to carry out part of this mission amongst his peers, most of it is centered around the future figure of the Messiah. Jesus will embrace this mission of the prophet, thus fulfilling the Scripture and his messianic vocation. John the Baptist, on the other hand, is very conscious of who he is and what his mission is. He is not the Messiah; he is not the messianic figure that appears in the text of Isaiah. He is only a voice that prepares the way for the Messiah, he is only a witness of light, a light that will enlighten all human beings. To know that one has a mission is not enough. One must know what one’s mission is in God’s plan. Our mission, like that of John the Baptist, is that of being witnesses of Light, like the mission of Paul and of the early Christians was being the Apostles of Jesus Christ. Therefore, there is a thread running across the mission of the prophet, that of John the Baptist, that of Jesus, that of Paul and that of the Christians of all times. This continuity guarantees and lends credibility to our conscience and our sense of mission among human beings.

When one is sent to someone, it is sent to convey a message. Therefore, the mission cannot be separated from the message that is to be conveyed. What is the content of the mission of the prophet, of John the Baptist, of Paul? Considering the liturgical texts, we can highlight some aspects of this content:

a) the proclamation that the Messiah, that is, Jesus of Nazareth, has come to free humankind: "... for he has clothed me in garments of salvation, he has wrapped me in a cloak of saving justice". A liberation that he provides with his words and with his works. An integral liberation, which evangelizes, heals, comforts. A proclamation that makes us fully aware that "we are free with the freedom with which Christ freed us."

b) The testimony of Christ as light of the world, who has been sent by the Father to enlighten the minds and consciences of men. A light that is in our midst, but that cannot be seen unless someone bears witness to it, like John the Baptist.

c) The style of life of the person liberated and enlightened by Christ, as described in Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians: Christian joy, prayer, Eucharist, discernment of the char-isms, unreproachable and authentic life.

PASTORAL SUGGESTIONS

3rd Sunday of Advent B

The noun "Christian" cannot be separated from the word "mission". By definition, a Chris-tian is a disciple of Christ who shares the same mission as Jesus Christ. If ever there were "passive" Christians, this is not the case today. Each Christian must be conscious of the fact that he has a mission to carry out in the Church. The mission is to make one’s life holy and work to make holy that of others. We ourselves are the first recipients of the mission, for only when we ourselves are evangelized can we contribute to the evangelization of others. How can we be our own "missionaries"? The Holy Siprit, who speaks to us through the Bible and the teachings of the Church, will show each one the personal and concrete ways to achieve this goal. However, we are also "missionaries" to our brothers and sisters, whoever they are, whatever they do, regardless of the living circumstances in which they find themselves. We are "missionaries", that is, we have been sent by Christ himself to proclaim the Gospel in school, at home, at the office, in the street, at the club, in Parliament, etc. We have been called to proclaim that Christ is the Savior of all, that he is the Light of the world that sheds light on all the dark areas of the individual conscience and of social and collective existence. We have been called to proclaim that Jesus Christ the Savior creates a new individual and a new style of life, worthy of living.

The Christian "missionary" carries out his mission especially when he is a witness, that is, when he incarnates in his everyday life what he preaches with words in different places and circumstances each day. Daily participation in the Eucharist consolidates the vocation of witness. In fact, before all else one bears witness to the fact that the Eucharist is the center of convergence and the point of reference of faith and holiness. Moreover, by participating in the mystery of redemption and by nourishing one’s self with Christ’s body and blood, one receives an unimaginable spiritual power to bear witness to Christ the Savior, light of the world and king of all persons’ hearts. Finally, with the Eucharist we anticipate the Lord that will come at Christmas through the liturgical actualization of the mystery, and at the end of time through the virtue of hope. Then, we will fully and wholly know what we only sacramentally anticipate today.

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Joy

13 December 2020 | Saint Peter’s Square

3rd Sunday of Advent B

The invitation to joy is characteristic of the season of Advent: the expectation of Jesus’ birth that we experience is joyful, somewhat like when we await the visit of a person we love a great deal, for example, a friend whom we have not seen for a long time, a relative… We are in joyful anticipation. And this dimension of joy emerges particularly today, the Third Sunday, which opens with Saint Paul’s exhortation: “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Entrance Antiphon; cf. Phil 4:4, 5). “Rejoice!”: Christian joy. And what is the reason for this joy? That “the Lord is at hand” (v. 5). The closer the Lord is to us, the more joy we feel; the farther away he is, the more sadness we feel. This is a rule for Christians. A philosopher once said something more or less like this: “I do not understand how one can believe today, because those who say they believe have a face from a funeral wake. They do not bear witness to the joy of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ”. Many Christians have that face, yes, a face from a funeral wake, a face of sadness… But Christ is risen! Christ loves you! And you have no joy? Let us think a bit about this and let us ask: “Do I have joy because the Lord is close to me, because the Lord loves me, because the Lord has redeemed me?”.

The Gospel according to John today presents us the biblical character who — excluding Our Lady and Saint Joseph — first and most fully experienced the expectation of the Messiah and the joy of seeing him arrive: naturally, we are speaking of John the Baptist (cf. Jn 1:6-8, 19-28).

The Evangelist introduces him in a solemn way: “There was a man sent from God… He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light” (vv. 6-7). The Baptist is the first witness to Jesus, with the word and with the gift of his life. All the Gospels agree in showing that he fulfilled his mission by indicating Jesus as the Christ, the One sent by God, promised by the Prophets. John was a leader of his time. His renown had spread throughout Judea and beyond, to Galilee. But he did not surrender even for an instant to the temptation to draw attention to himself: he always oriented himself toward the One who was to come. He used to say: “he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie” (v. 27). Always indicating the Lord. Like Our Lady: always indicating the Lord: “Do whatever he tells you”. The Lord is always at the centre. The Saints around him, indicating the Lord. And one who does not indicate the Lord is not holy! This is the first condition of Christian joy: todecentralize from oneself and place Jesus at the centre. This is not alienation, because Jesus is effectively the centre; he is thelight that gives full meaning to the life of every man and woman who comes into this world. It is the same dynamism of love, which leads me to come out of myself, not to lose myself but to find myself again, while I give myself, while I seek the good of others.

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Preparation for the Coming of the Lord: Three Attitudes

17 December 2017 | Saint Peter’s Square

3rd Sunday of Advent B

In recent Sundays the liturgy has emphasized what it means to assume an attitude of vigilance and what preparing the way of the Lord entails, concretely. On this Third Sunday of Advent, called the “Sunday of joy”, the liturgy invites us to welcome the spirit with which all this happens, that is, precisely, joy. Saint Paul invites us to prepare for the coming of the Lord, by assuming three attitudes. Listen carefully: three attitudes. First, constant joy; second, steadfast prayer; third, continuous thanksgiving. Constant joy, steadfast prayer and continuous thanksgiving.

The first attitude, constant joy: “Rejoice always” (1 Thess 5:16), Saint Paul says. This means always being joyful, even when things do not go according to our wishes; but there is that profound joy, which is peace: that too is joy; it is within. And peace is a joy “at the ground level”, but it is a joy. Distress, difficulties and suffering pass through each person’s life, we are all familiar with them; and so often the reality that surrounds us seems to be inhospitable and barren, similar to the desert in which the voice of John the Baptist resonated, as today’s Gospel passage recalls (cf. Jn 1:23). But the very words of the Baptist reveal that our joy rests on a certainty, that this desert is inhabited: “among you” — he says — “stands one whom you do not know” (v. 26). It refers to Jesus, the Father’s envoy who comes, as Isaiah stresses, “to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (61:1-2). These words, which Jesus will speak in his discourse at the synagogue of Nazareth (cf. Lk 4:16-19), clarify that his mission in the world consists in the liberation from sin and from the personal and social slavery that it produces. He has come to the earth to restore to mankind the dignity and freedom of the Children of God — which only he can communicate — and thereby to give joy.

The joy which characterizes the awaiting of the Messiah is based on steadfast prayer: this is the second attitude. Saint Paul says: “pray constantly” (1 Thess 5:17). By praying we can enter a stable relationship with God, who is the source of true joy. A Christian’s joy is not bought; it cannot be bought. It comes from faith and from the encounter with Jesus Christ, the reason for our happiness. And when we are rooted in Christ, the closer we are to Jesus, the more we find inner peace, even among everyday contradictions. For this reason a Christian, having encountered Jesus, cannot be a prophet of misfortune, but a witness and herald of joy. A joy to share with others; an infectious joy that renders the journey of life less toilsome.

The third attitude Paul points to is continuous thanksgiving, which is grateful love towards God. Indeed, he is very generous to us, and we are invited to always recognize his beneficence, his merciful love, his patience and goodness, thus living in unceasing thanksgiving.

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Rejoice in the Lord

14 December 2008 | Saint Peter’s Square

3rd Sunday of Advent B

This Sunday, the Third Sunday in the Season of Advent, is called “Gaudete Sunday”: “rejoice”, because the Entrance Antiphon of Holy Mass takes up St Paul’s words in the Letter to the Philippians where it says: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice”. And immediately after he explains the reason, because “The Lord is at hand” (Phil 4: 4-5). This is the reason for joy. But what does “the Lord is at hand” mean? In what sense must we understand this “closeness” of God? The Apostle Paul, writing to the Christians of Philippi, is evidently thinking of Christ’s return and invites them to rejoice because it is certain. Yet, St Paul in his Letter to the Thessalonians, warns that no one can know the moment of the Lord’s coming (cf. 1 Thes 5: 1-2) and puts people on guard against any kind of alarmism, as if Christ’s return were imminent (cf. 2 Thes 2: 1-2). Thus the Church, illumined by the Holy Spirit, already at that time understood increasingly better that God’s “closeness” is not a question of space and time but rather of love: love brings people together! This coming Christmas will remind us of this fundamental truth of our faith and in front of the manger we shall be able to savour Christian joy contemplating in the newborn Jesus the Face of God who made himself close to us out of love.

In this light, it gives me real pleasure to renew the beautiful tradition of the Blessing of the Christ Child figurines, the miniature statues of the Baby Jesus to be placed in the manger. I address you in particular, dear boys and girls of Rome, who have come this morning with your Baby Jesus figurines that I now bless. I invite you to join me, following attentively this prayer…

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