The Gospel for the Third Sunday of Advent (Matthew 11:2-11) is Jesus responding to John’s request from jail, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”. He simply points out what is happening all around him: “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them”. The majority report sees this passage as a sort of passing of the torch from John to Jesus, since John was killed while in prison and Jesus began his own ministry. As usual, the minority report can be as personal as I am willing to let it. We process the Gospel Stories through the filter of whatever is going on in our life when we read or hear them.
The Alleluia verse offers some context for the Gospel Story: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.” The Story shows what thee words mean. This is how Jesus began his ministry among us. These words also speak to us as how we are to live if we are serious about being disciples of Jesus. So, a legitimate question is how am I living these words with the people I see in some way every day, up close, or afar?
Am I aware of these words happening in my life? I have been aware of the Spirit of the Lord happening to me through many people, folks I know and folks I don’t. This is especially true in medical and health issue settings. Whatever is going on in my life at any given time reveals Abba happening in my life. And I have been on the receiving end of a lot of good. It is where I am invited to live the Gospel, to be on the giving end, an invitation to a life journey of growth and conversion. I can ask the grace to know my own blindness, my own my lameness, my own leprosy, my own deafness, my own deadness, my own poverty. I am also aware of how much nastiness has come into my life through other people. Gospel goodness has been brought to me through the people in my life, often without them even knowing this is what they are doing. This passage reminds me I need to really hear Jesus’ message in my life and go where it takes me, to change and grow where I have to. How can I live these words with the people Abba places in my life, and me in theirs?
As I listen to this passage today in the setting of my life and living situation, I might begin to hear Jesus’ words spoken to me in my here and now: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.” As I live every day, am I bringing suffering and pain to the people I deal with, or am I bringing Jesus’ Gospel of healing and strength? What are the glad tidings Abba is asking me to bring? How do I do it? Perhaps I don’t ask to change the situation, but to change me and lead me to see the situation in a different way.
The Second Reading from James has a lot to say: “You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another, that you may not be judged”. Whatever my situation at any given time, the coming of the Lord is at hand. Simply complaining about the situation does more bad than good. Looking for Abba in every thing and every one leaves room for hope and trust. Where is Abba in it all? What is Abba saying to me? As I interact with people every day, how do I bring glad tidings? Am I trying? Do I know what the glad tidings are? Perhaps it is simply a matter of being with people and desiring to be open to Abba however, and just going where this takes me.
Pope Leo: “In a world where arrogance and violence seem to prevail over charity, we are called to bear witness that life triumphs over death, that love conquers hatred, that forgiveness overcomes revenge, and that mercy and grace overcome sin”. Carl Jung: “Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes”.
So much of the harm and evil that happens is because of fear. We fear what or who we don’t know or understand, or can’t control. Can I ask the humility and courage to act what I believe, that somehow Abba is in everything? My everyday journey to and with Abba is a journey of wandering and wondering, asking to be led, without knowing where I want to be led. A practical thought from Rilke: “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” The current situation is difficult, and it is of Abba. I have to make my choice to be open to Abba in ways I don’t understand, to trust that Abba is bringing me along, that I am where I need to be for all this to happen, and I can’t let my ego get in the way. Each one of us can say this same thing.
In the providence of Abba every one of the people in my life are an important, necessary part of my journey, as I am of theirs, and this is where the Gospel happens, knowingly and unknowingly. Mostly it’s in simple everyday things, not grandiosely. So in whatever is going on at any given time is where the Gospel happens. It does not need religious terms and concepts. A worthwhile question might be how ready and willing am I to accept Jesus coming in people or situations I don’t like or want to be a part of. Each moment may I ask to choose the course of action that best leads to Abba’s deepening life within me. Just sayin . . .