Homily for Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Advent

As we just heard, from his prison cell, John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” It could appear that, as John sat in his cell, he was having doubts about Jesus. 

 

After all, John proclaimed that Jesus would be a fiery prophet of judgment, with His winnowing fan in His hand, gathering the wheat into the barn and burning the chaff with unquenchable fire. 

 

That is not exactly how Jesus showed up. In His first sermon, according to St. Luke, Jesus declared that He had come to proclaim a year acceptable to the LORD. That lacked some of the intensity with which John said He would come.

 

Jesus was the One who was to come, and His work was to reveal the welcoming love of God for all. He was less judgemental and more hospitable than John had foreseen. Jesus’ coming was good news, a moment of joy, especially for those broken and battered in body, mind, or spirit.

 

When we come to God in our brokenness, poverty, weakness, and need, we will experience His presence as healing, life-giving, and renewing. That is good news for the Church and the whole world, especially in these difficult days.