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Today we are wearing rose vestments to represent that it is Gaudete Sunday. We are half way through Advent. It is a time during our penitential preparation of Advent to remember to rejoice, as we approach the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior for the salvation from our sins. We are also to rejoice because we look forward to the promise of his second coming.

In the First Reading today Isaiah stresses that God has come to save us. In the Second reading St. James stresses that we must be patient. In the Gospel Jesus stresses that John the Baptist was sent by God as the prophetic messenger preparing the way of his coming. When you put these together we are being told that God personally came to save us through His Son Jesus Christ, and that we must be patient and vigilant to recognize the workings of Christ in our lives.

Being patient means to be tolerant while you are waiting. Why must we wait? Most people would likely find waiting stressful. Being stuck in traffic is an example of waiting. It causes anxiety. You can experience the same thing waiting for an appointment in a Doctor’s office. Waiting is also mentioned during Mass in the Communion Rite after the Our Father when the priest says: “Deliver us, Lord we pray, that, by the help of your mercy, we may always be free from sin and safe from all distress, as we “await” the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” The Communion Rite is reminding us that we are in a time of waiting for our Lord to come again.

It is hard to wait, and we need to embrace the patience that St. James is talking about. We know that many things in life take time. To become a “master” in something, does not happen over night. It takes hard work and dedication and in many cases, years to perfect. Growing in the life of Christ is not different. It takes work, dedication, and consistent repetition for it to become part of us, and eventually become directly aligned with who we are. We are all to become one body in Christ.

Even though John the Baptist believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, the Chosen One of God, he still asked Jesus for the following confirmation, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” How come John was questioning if Jesus was the Christ? John was certainly versed in what Isaiah said would be the signs. Jesus did not directly respond to John that he was the Christ. He reiterated what was prophesied by Isaiah. He challenged John regarding what was heard and had been seen about him.

Jesus was a miracle worker, a healer. The Kingdom of God was manifesting in Jesus. The Church is the mystical body of Jesus, it is how his healing power comes into the world. Jesus points to the things that were happening to prove who he is. God wants to give us the divine life. Can you hear and see the Lord in the lives of the Saints and in the teachings of the Church? Have we recognized

his presence in our own lives? If not, how do we become attentive to the one voice that matters? We too must look, we must actively search for Jesus’ love and mercy active all around us, as Jesus challenged John the Baptist to do.

To help put things in perspective Jesus made a very interesting remark at the end of the Gospel. The last sentence in the Gospel today seems to contradict itself. Jesus said: “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

When Jesus starts a statement with “Amen, I say to you, …” it signifies a statement of absolute authority and truth. So, what is he telling us? How can John the Baptist be both the greatest and the least at the same time?

John the Baptist was the last and greatest prophet of the Old Covenant, proclaiming God’s message to the world uniquely preparing the way for Jesus, but even the smallest person in God’s Kingdom who experiences the New Covenant (Baptism into Jesus’ death, resurrection, and the gift of the Holy Spirit) has a greater spiritual reality and privilege than John, who proclaimed the coming of the Messiah.

This gift of being united to Christ through our Baptism makes us part of the Universal Church Community of God, the one body in Christ. There is nothing greater than us being joined with God where our bodies become a temple of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us through our Baptism in union with Jesus Christ. If that is not something to rejoice about, then I don’t know what is. God loves us so much that he wants to dwell within us, uniting ourselves to Him in a very unique and intimate way.

We certainly are not worthy of such a gift, but only through the grace of God has this become our reality. How do we have this reality manifest within us? Do you see yourself as a member of the one body of Christ? Do you recognize the life of Christ active through others all around you? Are you an active participant in making Christ real to others around you? Can they see Christ in action through you? We are the forerunners of the second coming of Christ. We are not John the Baptist but we are to proclaim the sacrifice Jesus made for our salvation and the promise of his second coming. Making Jesus’ presence felt by others is our calling as being part of the one body of Christ.

Come and let us rejoice in the coming of our Lord, our Savior, for there is no greater love, no greater gift that he could possibly give us then giving himself wholly and completely to us for the salvation of our souls and the joy of being with him forever in heaven. What greater gift can we give then to bring this message of Christ to others.