3rd Sunday of Advent - Fr. Leo
“It Gets better,” is a phrase used by the It Gets Better project started a few years ago to help young LGBTQ+ people feel better about themselves in the process of embracing their sexual identity. The hope was to reduce suicides in that demographic.
I’d like to steel that phrase today as I think it sums up our scriptures as an important hope to have in the Christian journey. “It gets better.”
Isiah, in our first reading acknowledges the hard times in life when the land will be parched and the need for vindication will be strong. He says, “Rejoice,” because the Lord will vindicate and fill them with joy and gladness. The Lord will heal the hands that are feeble and the knees that are weak, and calm the frightened.
James, in our second reading calls us to be patient as the farmer is with his field. Time is also needed in the growth of the soul as the Lord raises us up to rejoice in its great fruits produced of the Holy Spirit.
The gospel reveals itself in time as we learn from Matthew’s gospel. When Jesus was asked if he was the one, he didn’t say yes. He pointed to the works the Father achieved through him; the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame walking, lepers healed, and the dead brought back to life. These works reflected the presence of God that Jesus was incarnated to bring into the consciousness of God’s people.
Here then, is our source of hope, that in Christ we have access to the Father’s healing love though the gift of the Holy Spirit. This becomes real when we embrace our pain with hope that comes from faith. For example, when a loved one dies, we feel incomprehensible grief, but in time that grief heals and we begin to know the blessings of God made real in the death and resurrection of our beloved. With patience our sadness slowly turns into joy.
When the rug gets pulled out from under us, be it an unexpected job loss, a divorce or significant health issue, we are absorbed in the pain and darkness of the moment. However, given time we will find ourselves in a better place. We will heal and life will be restored to us through the gift of our faith in the Christ who unites us with himself to share the glorious life of the Holy Trinity.
So in the darkness of this hour, if that is your experience, let us listen for the angels who will sing on that night when the star of faith dawns in our hearts. Then our prayer, “Lord, come and save us,” will be answered by the chorus that sings; “Glory to God in the Highest and Peace to His People on Earth.” We will be in that wondrous choir! So rejoice for the Lord is near as he is the Kingdom of God within us!