Third Sunday of Advent
But a person who ate locusts and wild honey probably didn’t have the best complexion. And I can’t imagine camel-hair clothing being all that fashionable, even back them. John says that he fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah, to make straight the way for the Lord. But as he does so, he calls out the Pharisees and scribes, and calls them a brood of vipers. He prophesies to the religious leaders that any tree that does not bear fruit will be chopped down at its roots, and that God will burn the chaff, the useless bits of the harvest, “with unquenchable fire.” John was not a wilting lily, but, in his own way, an extremist, who wasn’t afraid to call out those who needed to repent.
But a later passage from the Gospel according to John, from whose Gospel we heard today, has St. John the Baptist also saying, “‘The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease.’” And since the liturgy wants us to rejoice on this Gaudete Sunday, this Sunday that our introit and epistle both center on rejoicing, it’s also important to meditate on the joy of hearing the voice of the bridegroom.
When it comes to the image the Forerunner uses, that of a wedding party, we should make sure we have each character rightly understood. The Bridegroom is Christ. The bride is the Church. This image can be difficult for guys, as we don’t think of ourselves as brides. A bride is an altogether feminine image, and we men don’t readily attribute to ourselves femininity, which is proper to women. But, it’s the flip side of the coin that we are all united and participate in the Son of God through baptism, which is a more difficult image for women, who probably don’t think of themselves in the masculine reality of being a son. Still, as members of the Church, we are Christ’s bride, the one for whom He gives His life, His top priority and greatest love.
Because of the Incarnation, the Divine Bridegroom has connected us to Himself. By His Passion He paid the price to free us from the dominion of sin and death, and liberate us into the free and elevating spousal union. And this is certainly a reason to rejoice. Of course, this Sunday we rejoice because we are more than halfway to the celebration to Christmas (in fact, this year, we only have 8 more days until Christmas). But we rejoice because we will soon rejoice even more in the celebration of the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies where God promised to send us a redeemer. And living in this post-Incarnation time, we rejoice that we are the bride of Christ, united to Him through Holy Baptism so that we can reign with Him forever if we stay united to Him throughout our life.
But, in another image that may be more difficult for women, we are also the best man. Yes, that term specifically refers to St. John the Baptist, but it can also refer to us, because we also are supposed to stand at attention for His return, and listen for His voice. And when we hear that voice, it causes joy because our role as best man is to help the groom prepare for his wedding feast where he takes a bride for himself. God calls us, as He called St. John the Baptist, to be ready and listen for how God reveals Himself, so that we can point Him out when we notice Him.
This is part of how we live as those who evangelize. We should constantly keep our ears and eyes attuned to the working of God, not only in our own life and in the life of our family, but also in the lives of those whom we daily encounter. We should be ready to point out to people how we see God working in their lives. Do we have the courage to help others see how God works in their lives? Can we recognize how God works?
In that way, we are all supposed to be like Precursor of the Lord. Whether it is helping others through turmoil and difficulty because of their lack of the Lord, or when we experience what many call a “God-moment” where we sense that God has just done something, part of our mission as disciples is to point out God working in other lives so that it leads to deeper faith. So often we can go through life just presuming that everything is a result of our actions and choices. It can be so easy to live like a deist, who believes that God exists but that He doesn’t really interact with our world, He just lets us do our own thing while He watches from afar. But we are not deists. We are Incarnationalists. We believe that God took flesh because He wanted to, ever more closely, interact with us and draw us to Himself. And while Christ our Incarnate Lord did ascend into the heavens, He promised not to leave us orphans, but to send the Holy Spirit to continue His work and to lead us into all truth. And that Holy Spirit is alive and powerful and can work great things through us, if we let Him. And when we see that work of the Holy Spirit, we can be like Buddy the Elf, who, upon learning that Santa is coming to the mall says, “I know him!”
