“‘I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, “make straight the way of the Lord,” as Isaiah the prophet said.’ … ‘I baptize with water; but there is One among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, Whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.'”
Mass Readings 12.14.14 – IS 61:1-2A, 10-11 – LK 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54 – 1 THES 5:16-24 – JN 1:6-8, 19-28
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FIRST READING: Isaiah 61:1-2A, 10-11
The Prophet Isaiah gives voice to words that later will be read off by Christ, when Jesus begins His public Ministry reading from the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue of Nazareth.
Isaiah articulates some of the themes of the promised Messiah, and reminds us that, while earthly affairs are marked by deprivation and suffering, God’s Arrival brings new life and deliverance — glad tidings for the poor, healing for the brokenhearted, liberty to captives, a Year of Favor from the Lord.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; 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, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God.
On this Gaudete Sunday, we see Isaiah encountering God with rejoicing, as we also should. Isaiah speaks of joy combined with salvation and justice.
I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the Joy of my soul; for He has clothed me with a robe of Salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice …
Isaiah, his prophecies and their fulfillment in the arrival of the Messiah, are part of an unfolding of Salvation History. As with the garden-themed parables and metaphors of Christ, we are reminded of an unfolding nature of Salvation History that is like the growth and cultivation of a garden.
God will bring forth justice and praise that blossom and grow like the plants of the earth:
As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, so will the Lord GOD make Justice and Praise spring up before all the nations.
PSALM: Luke 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54
My soul rejoices in my God.
SECOND READING: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
On this Gaudete Sunday, we see Saint Paul reminding the Thessalonians, and all of us, to rejoice:
Brothers and sisters: Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good.
Refrain from every kind of evil.
So we see Saint Paul mentioning, all at once:
- rejoicing
- unceasing prayer
- thankfulness to God (which implies that we have things to be thankful for, to be viewed positively)
- a relationship and encounters with the Holy Spirit
- discernment of right and wrong, among what we encounter on earth
- rejection of evil of any kind
Saint Paul prays that God, Who is a God of Peace, will make us perfectly holy and blameless:
May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is Faithful, and He will also accomplish it.
So we are to be concerned about our entire existence, spirit, soul and body, in cooperating with God to seek purity and holiness. Note that he lists spirit and soul separately, perhaps inviting greater inquiry into, for example, the linguistics and theological concepts of what he is meaning to say.
We also are reminded that God calls us, and that God is Faithful, that we should embrace the fact that He can and will follow through on this effort to convert and preserve us, to cultivate us into a condition where He is welcoming us into Eternal Life.
Saint John the Baptist begins his ministry of repentance, baptism and anticipation of the arrival of the Messiah.
John professes that he is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah about a voice in the wilderness preparing the Way of the Lord, and that the Messiah is still to come:
‘I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, “make straight the way of the Lord,” as Isaiah the prophet said.’ … ‘I baptize with water; but there is One among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, Whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.’
