Third Sunday in Advent

Link to the Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/121210.shtml

“Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.”

“Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you!”

“The Lord God keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets captives free.”

“Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

God is coming, and bringing salvation with Him. The readings today are full of the joy of what His coming means; and not just the birth of Christ, but the final coming. When Jesus comes in the end, when the dead are resurrected, then we shall see the new Heaven and earth. The eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the death will be cleared; the lame will leap like a stag, and the tongue of the mute will sing.

While God will do all these things, they are also signs and symbols for an experience we have no words for. When God comes at the end of days, He will bring holy perfection. But those sterile words have no depth to describe the wonder at hand. We can only say that the world then, will be like a healthy body when compared to the sinful body of the world now. And it will be beautiful.

Today we should feel that. Not just the hope that He is coming, but the joy of what that means. The promise fulfilled, and justice established. Jesus is coming to do away with our suffering, and will raise those who are suffering up to new heights. So let us be patient, like the farmer waits for a precious fruit, and remain firm in what believe. Because the Lord is coming.

As we progress through Advent, and become closer and closer to Christmas, we remember that we become closer and closer to Second Coming. We will not have to wait forever, because He is on His way.