Homily For The Third Sunday Of Advent, Year B, December 17, 2023.
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“At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving the others with God’s own love and concern.” – Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Sunday Readings
My Dearest Friends In Christ,
A gracious welcome to the Third Sunday of Advent(Gaudate Sunday). I hope every valley of emptiness is being filled and every mountain of sin is being laid low. May God continue to be with you in this period of hope and spiritual preparation for His coming.
The reading of today reminds us that, like John the Baptist, we all are commissioned to make Christ known to the world and to be involved in His mission of preference for the poor. I will begin this reflection by asking this question. Is there justice in preferential treatment for the poor?
Is Preference For The Poor A Form Of Injustice?
This question taken from the first reading of today is the fulcrum of our reflection today. Those who oppose preferential treatment would conceive it as ‘reverse discrimination’; a form of injustice. Those who support it would conceive of it as ‘affirmative action’ in terms of compensation. I am exploring this debatable question in this reflection because, from the point of view of the Church’s social teaching, the Church, after the mind of Christ, has always upheld the preferential option for the poor. This is very clear when we reflect on the manifesto of Christ as revealed in the oracle of Isaiah. “He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners.” I do not intend to explore this idea from an academic standpoint but to encourage us to reflect from a theological perspective, in this period of Advent, on why we should show a preference for the poor as Christ does. The questions we can all ask ourselves are these. Is Jesus unjust to have devoted His ministry to those who are less privileged? Why was He so interested in the poor, prisoners, captives, and the brokenhearted? Why did He come to announce a year of favor and vindication from God? Did Christ favor these groups to the detriment of others? Was He also partial to others? All these questions bug our minds as we reflect on Christ’s preferential love for the poor. In a society bedeviled by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.
The Church’s love for the poor is a part of her constant tradition. This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, by the poverty of Jesus, and by His concern for the poor. “Those who are oppressed by poverty are the object of a preferential love on the part of the Church which, since her origin and despite the failings of many of her members, has not ceased to work for their relief, defense, and liberation.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2444, 2448, quoting Centesimus annus, no. 57, and Libertatis conscientia, no. 68)
Those who see a preference for the poor as injustice or ‘reverse discrimination’ are simply blinded from the revealed truths of the Gospel. From the time of early Christian communities in Acts 4:35, the distribution of goods has maintained the order of giving to each according to his or her needs. The implication of this is that those who are in more need are taken care of first before others who have lesser needs. Those who see discrimination in preference for the poor are indirectly perpetuating or advancing injustice in a society where many bask in affluence while others can hardly afford a meal.
Understanding the Needs of Our Human Nature
To answer some of the questions posed above, Jesus in His humanity understood the needs of our human nature. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses…“(cf. Hebrew 4:15) On the streets of Israel in biblical times, during His earthly ministry, Jesus came in contact with and also sought for the lost, the poor and the less privileged. ( cf. Mathew 15:24) Before He came, He sent prophets, like Amos, to decry social injustice in Israel. ( cf. Amos 8:6) Through Isaiah, He also made known the nature of His mission. All through Christ’s earthly ministry, every sick person who came to Him with faith received healing. When His disciples threatened to send the crowd away, Jesus had compassion because He knew they were hungry and He fed them. (cf. Mark 6:36) His mission has no boundaries. Even though He came only for the lost sheep of Israel, He entered Gentile territories to proclaim the good news and also performed miracles there. See the healing of the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter. (cf. Mathew 15:21-28) Christ’s preference for the poor is a preference born out of love and compassion. Our preference for the poor should also be based on the principles of justice, love, and compassion.
Identify With Those Who Truly Need Help
There are many whose charity is misguided or discriminatory. Those whom, I may say, pour water into an ocean, giving where it is not needed. There are many who, unlike Christ, do not identify with those in need, nor see where there is an opportunity to help. Often people prefer to give where it is not needed, just to get a name. They are those who would ignore the poor sitting under their nose, but donate large sums to a community or organizations just to gain favors or public applause. I do not mean you should not give to organizations but why would you ignore a brother in need just to donate to an organization elsewhere? Christ gave no thought to the opinions of others. He simply went about His mission caring for those in need. In this period of Advent, as Christmas approaches, God is reminding us to identify those who truly need help and channel our support to them. “Love for the poor has been the sign, the light that draws people to give glory to the Father.” -Pope Francis.
We Need Humility In Our Mission Of Making Christ Known to the World
Humility and service are the hallmarks of Johns’s mission. The humility to admit that he is not the Messiah despite his great renown makes John a remarkable person and a great witness. The life of John reminds us that in every mission, there is a sender, a message, and a messenger. God is the Sender. The message was to prepare the way for the Messiah. In other words, Christ is the Message, and John is the messenger. John in his responses to Jewish leaders, the priests, and Levites from Jerusalem, clearly distinguished these three distinct aspects of his mission. He neither claimed to be the Sender nor personalized the content of the message. When asked who he was, he simply called himself the voice crying out, announcing the coming of the Messiah. When the Pharisees questioned him about the Baptism, he clearly defined the limited scope of the Baptism. He then seized the opportunity to announce and prepare them for the coming of He who is mightier than himself whose Baptism will be by the Holy Spirit, and whose sandals he is unworthy of untying. Hence John prepared the stage for Christ by leaving these Jewish men in a state of expectation of this Great One who is coming after him.
Our world needs men and women of God, who like John, will cast the light on Christ and prepare the world to accept Him. To do this we must all shun projecting ourselves, and allow the light of Christ to shine through us. We must focus on preaching Christ and not boosting our ego. We must be humble and accept our status as messengers and know we are not the message nor the Sender. This is a great responsibility and challenge facing us today; to make Christ known again to our world that is becoming increasingly godless and secular. Let us make Christ known in liberating the captives, bringing good news to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, setting prisoners free, and announcing God’s favors. These should be our focus in this mission.
Many are claiming today to be the Christ and leading people away from the truth. Let us heed the advice of St Paul in the second reading: “Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil.” May God fill us with an understanding of the mission to which He has called us and help us to prepare ourselves and our world to accept the Messiah at Christmas.
Let us extend our generous Hands to help those in need and feed the Poor this Christmas
I keep you and your family always in my prayers. ©Clem C. Aladi (2024)
