We are here on the Third Sunday of Advent which is called Gaudate Sunday. The priest wears rose and the readings reflect the positive aspect of Advent. Be prepared your savior is at hand.
Our message is one of joyful expectation. Notice the second reading from the Letter of James, now if James is telling us to be in Joyful expectation, then we can take that command to the bank. Why? Because the Letter of James is the most filled with fire and brimstone, as compared to the rest of the New Testament and if he is telling us to be filled with joyful expectation, be filled with joyful expectation.
What is James writes: Be as expectant of your salvation as a farmer is of his fields. To further understand this, we need to understand further the role of farmer. The farmer is waiting with joyful expectation. Not only will he feed his family he will sell his crops for a profit and be able to reinvest as he grows his farm and his family.
Notice the imagery. Be as expectant of your salvation as a farmer is of his fields. Notice how farming works. You plant the seeds, you water them and barring unforeseen circumstances, your crops grow. Be as expectant. Be members of God’s Kingdom and await the coming of your king. But be active members of His kingdom, working for Kingdom like a farmer works for the success of his crops. Do it, however, with joyful expectation. Know that the time is coming when the kingdom of God will surround you.
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However, if we look closely at this, we can see that like a farmer must be patient, so must we. What does the farmer do. He looks around everyday, he follows the schedule, but he also is aware of the weather how it will help or hurt his crops. But he always maintains an expectant attitude. Further, the farmer realizes he can only do so much, there is a great amount of the fruit of his labor that is out of his hands. He can plant the seeds and water them, but he did not put into the plants the mechanics to make them grow. All of that is out of his hands. He must rely intensely on what is out of his hands and that is why a great majority of farmers are religious people for they know how much they are not in control. So they must wait patiently for their crops to grow and to enjoy the fruit of their labors.
So it is with us and relationship with God. The Lord has put us here to make His kingdom grow. We work with Him as we wait in joyful expectation for the time when the fullness of our work will be accomplished in Him. That is the joy we are awaiting. Meanwhile, we seek joyfully to do His work.
James is calling us to have the same joyful attitude. Await the coming of the kingdom and, like the farmer, make the kingdom grow by bringing others into this Kingdom. Celebrate for there will be time when the trials and tribulations of this world will be nothing more than a memory if they are anything at all and we will be in the kingdom of Justice and Peace where our Lord calls us. This is the message of Christmas which we look forward to on the Third Sunday of Advent.
That message is for now as well. When we are in difficult times, when we look up and see no hope, when things go wrong, even horribly wrong, we can have an expectant faith that reminds us that God is with us and will get us through this difficulty. We must hold on to that. All is not lost. If we look up and see our difficulties are insurmountable, here is what we remember, God leads you and forms your through your difficulties, not around them. It does not matter whether we are talking about a tragic loss, an illness, debt, employment. In all those difficult times, have expectant faith. He will use those difficulties to change you in a way that leads you closer to Him and to be stronger in faith, and in a knowledge of His presence. That is the expectant faith of the coming of the Kingdom in our lives, now.
The Pope this week brought forth the one teaching that puts a damper on that imagery. It is the image of the final judgement. He reminded us that our attitude toward the final judgement should not be one of fear and anxiety like we are awaiting our final grade from high school to see if we can get into college. We should have the attitude of joyful expectation for it is the Lord himself who is calling us to be part of His kingdom. He himself will be with us at this final judgement with his mercy and love. We need only be there in joyful expectation awaiting the Lord whom we have sought throughout our lives like a farmer awaits his crops. Providing, like the farmer, we have done the Lord’s work on the ranch. What is the Lord’s work?
One image I always give of awaiting our final reward is that of being in the lobby of a fine hotel awaiting the go ahead to go to your room. That is what Christ is calling us to do, to be people of joyful expectation awaiting the coming of the savior. The time could be at hand. Our salvation is near. We need to be open to the Lord that we may recognize Him and He may recognize us when our salvation is near.
This is the attitude of the Christian. Joyful expectation, we could be in Heaven tomorrow. If not tomorrow, one day we will be with our king in joyful expectation. Let us make that dream our greatest goal. That is the spirit of Advent.
God bless you,
Fr. Carr is an alliance member of the New Song Community (Canção Nova). He is the pastor ofHoly Trinity Parish, Quincy, MA and is the editor of this blog. He also has a regular radio program on for Canção Nova NUSA.Which he podcasts for Canção Nova available at Mixcloud and here on Catholicismanew.
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