“FIRST IMPRESSIONS”
3rd SUNDAY OF ADVENT (A)
Dec. 14, 2025
Isaiah 35: 1-6a, 10; Psalm 146; James 5: 7-10; Matthew 11: 2-11
By: Jude Siciliano, OP
Dear Preachers:
The opening line of James’ letter today
certainly sets an Advent tone. “Be patient brothers and sisters until the coming
of the Lord.” We often speak of Advent as a time that requires patience and
waiting. But it is not a passive waiting, merely putting up with the trials life
presents to us in our society.
James gives us the image of a farmer who waits for the “precious fruit of the earth,” trusting that time, patience and God’s providence will bring growth. He reminds us at this Advent time to live in faith in what is unseen, “not yet.” He is inviting us to trust that time and God’s providence will bring growth.
Patience is not easy during testing times. Testing might be as we struggle with personal issues in our families, local community and diminished health. The bad news in our world of national and international strife can also test our patience. Advent patience is active as we, in James’ imagery, tend the soil of our hearts through prayer, repentance and compassion. We are like the farmer and must do as much as we can to prepare. But we are reminded that we are not in control and must surrender the outcome to God’s timing.
The good news, James tells us is, that “the Lord is near.” That nearness gives us strength as we wait in a “not-yet world.” We are tempted and can grow discouraged. Indeed, James reminds us, God is with us as we wait and already at work in the hidden places: in quiet conversations, small acts of mercy, the early signs of light present even before sunrise. Have we noticed?
He also cautions us not to grumble against one another. In our waiting we might grow impatient with God which can spill over to impatience with one another. Advent invites us to be gentle to see others who are like us, pilgrims on the road to redemption.
In today’s gospel we meet John the Baptist in prison, sending his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” This is a poignant moment in the gospel. John was the fiery prophet who had proclaimed the coming of the Messiah. Jesus had come, but he doesn’t seem to be what John expected. John sounds like he is wrestling uncertainty; might even be wondering if he had gotten God’s message right. He lives in a state we know as well: between promise and fulfillment; between what has begun in Christ and what we still await and hope.
John voices our own questions in Advent when we ask, “Lord, where are you? Are you really present at this time in our world?” The world is in deep pain, spiritual and as well as physical. The delay in God’s promises being fulfilled can cause us to wonder if God and the kingdom are really near. That is our Advent question and besides raising the question we are also invited to listen to Jesus’ gentle reply.
Here is the answer Jesus gives to John’s disciples about himself. “The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised ands the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.”
Jesus does not argue or explain. He points to what’s happening: healing mercy and transformation. Aren’t those signs of God’s kingdom? Advent faith invites us to look for those same signs. They may be small and hidden, or right before our eyes, hard to miss. These signs announce to us to God’s saving power is still at work among us. Do we not see? How can we participate in them?
We note the beatitude in today’s gospel, “Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” This is an Advent challenge because God’s ways can surprise or unsettle us. We can’t stumble when Christ comes to us in a form we do not expect in the poor, and suffering, in the slow process of grace. Faith means trusting that even when we do not see everything clearly, God’s promises being fulfilled.
John the Baptist is a reminder to us that even the prophet of fiery conviction struggles to understand how God is working. Like him, we too may wonder: where is God’s kingdom? Why does it seem delayed when the world needs it to come in its fullness?
Today is the third Sunday of Advent, also called “Gaudete Sunday.” It is customary to light the third candle in our Advent wreath, the “Rose candle.” With its lighting we are reminded that joy grows in patient faith, the kind of trust that even when the world seems dark, God’s light is already dawning.”
Click here for a link to this Sunday’s readings: