HOMILY OF THE 3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT (GAUDETE SUNDAY): YEAR A
HOMILY OF THE 3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT (GAUDETE SUNDAY): YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: “REJOICE, THE LORD IS NEAR”
BY: Fr Livinus Chibueze Igbodekwe
Isaiah 35: 1-6a.10, James 5:7-10, Matthew 11:2-11
Brothers and sisters, let me begin with a simple story. A young man once received a promise from his elder brother: “On your graduation day, I will give you the gift you have always dreamed of.” The gift did not come immediately. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. Yet something strange happened. Instead of sadness, joy grew in his heart. Each week he marked the calendar with a smile. When the date was still far, he smiled with hope; when the days drew nearer, his joy became almost unbearable. The promise was not yet fulfilled, but the certainty of the promise made his waiting joyful. This is the spirit of Advent. We are a people who wait, not in despair, but in joy, because God has promised, and God never fails.
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HOMILY OF THE 3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT (GAUDETE SUNDAY)
The Third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday—“Rejoice.” The readings and the Church’s invitation remind us that waiting in God is never empty. Scripture repeatedly links waiting with joy. The psalmist declares, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope” (Psalm 130:5). Waiting here is not passive; it is anchored in God’s word. Because God has spoken, the soul can hope, and hope gives birth to quiet joy. Isaiah proclaims, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God” (Isaiah 61:10). This joy springs not from circumstances, but from God’s saving action, even before it is fully seen.
St Paul makes this teaching even more striking. He writes, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). These words were not written from comfort, but from a prison cell. Chains on his hands did not chain his joy. Paul understood that Christian joy is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of Christ. That is why he could also say, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3–4). Joy grows precisely where hope is tested. James echoes this truth: “Count it all joy when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2–3). Waiting, when united with faith, becomes fertile ground for joy.
As we wait in Advent—for answers, for healing, for peace, for Christ anew—we are invited to smile, to rejoice, even amid uncertainty. Our joy is not denial of pain; it is defiance of despair. Like John the Baptist in today’s Gospel, we may still ask questions, but we do so while standing on the threshold of God’s fulfillment.
Let me end with an old Indian story. A water bearer had two pots. One was whole and carried water perfectly. The other was cracked and leaked half its water along the way. The cracked pot felt ashamed and sad. One day it apologized to the man for its weakness. The man smiled and said, “Did you notice the flowers on your side of the path?” Every day, the leaking water had nourished seeds, turning the roadside into beauty. “Your cracks,” the man said, “are the reason there is life and color there.”
Dear friends, our waiting, our brokenness, our unanswered prayers may feel like cracks. Yet God is using them to bring beauty, life, and joy along the path. So rejoice. The Lord is near. Waiting in Him is never wasted, and joy is already springing forth.
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