<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This Sunday\nis Gaudete Sunday, otherwise known as \u201cRejoice\u201d Sunday because of the intriot:\n\u201cRejoice in the Lord always. I say again, rejoice!\u201d Instead of the royal and\npenitential purple, the Church lights the vibrant and joyful rose candle as\nboth a reprieve from the penance of advent and a reminder of the nearing joy of\nChristmas when the Savior is born. In fact, the Gospel shows why we should\nrejoice in the form of a question: \u201cAre you the one who is to come, or should\nwe look for another?\u201d In other words, who is Jesus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But who is\n\u201cthe one who is to come\u201d? The Jews at the time of Jesus were looking for the\nMessiah, the anointed of God who will liberate them. Many misunderstood the\nMessiah to be a political leader who will free them from Roman rule. Yet, John\nthe Baptist understood the Messiah to be more than just a political leader.\nHowever, there seems to be some doubt in the greatest of the prophets, which is\nwhy he sends his disciples to ask Jesus who he is. Jesus responds by citing\nIsaiah 35, referring to Himself as God who \u201ccomes to save.\u201d The signs? The\nblind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the mute speak. All these miracles\npoint to who Jesus is and what he is about: to proclaim the Kingdom of God –\nthe true liberation from sin that humanity craves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore,\nwe should not look for another. Jesus is the \u201cone who is to come\u201d because God\nis here. The whole first chapter of Matthew\u2019s Gospel speaks of Emmanuel: God\nwith us. The genealogy speaks of God\u2019s faithfulness through time with Joseph\u2019s\ndream concluding in the great climactic message from Isaiah: \u201cLook, the virgin\nshall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,\u201d which means\n\u2018God is with us.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is why\nwe can rejoice today. We find ourselves in the same boat as John the Baptist. As John anxiously waited for God to fulfill\nHis promises to Israel so we, too, wait for the Risen Lord to return again in\nglory, fulfilling his promise to be with us until the consummation of the\nworld. All of our doubts and questions of God\u2019s faithfulness find their\ndefinitive answer in Jesus Christ. Jesus is Emmanuel; the God who saves is\nindeed with us yesterday, today, and forever. So \u201crejoice in the Lord always. I\nsay again, rejoice!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joseph Yuson<\/strong> \u2013 St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fot. David Boca\/Unsplash.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Third Sunday of Advent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n