Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday)
1. Exult for Joy 2. The One You Do Not Know
Liturgical Cycle: B | Lectionary Cycle: I
Introduction
Greeting
May the God of peace make you perfect and holy,
and keep you sound and blameless
for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rejoice, for the Lord is with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
• Exult for Joy
How is it that, with all the good things the Lord gives us, we are so often sad and joyless? We have one another, we have our faith, we have Jesus as our companion in life, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, we have a Father in heaven who cares. Rejoice, the Lord is near. Rejoice, the Lord is here. Rejoice, here with us is the Lord Jesus. Now with him we can give proper thanks to our Father.
• The One You Do Not Know
Do you want to know Jesus? Do you want to meet him today? Encounter him in people, accompany them on the road of life, especially the poor, the brokenhearted, the downtrodden and those who are not free. Jesus identifies with them. In them we find Jesus. Then he will no longer remain an unknown, remote person to us. We will then be with Jesus, and Jesus with us.
Penitential Act
Too often we are sad and thankless.
We now ask the good Lord to forgive us.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, you have brought us
the joy of complete forgiveness:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you keep sharing with us
the Good News of the life and the love of God:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you prepare us
for a joy that will last
and that no one can take away from us:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
forgive us all our sins
and turn our sadness into joy.
Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray that we may recognize the Lord
when he comes among us
(pause)
Lord God, our Father,
no one has ever seen you
but you have shown yourself to us
in your beloved Son Jesus Christ.
Help us to recognize his face
in the poor and the humble.
Do not allow us to overlook him
in the brokenhearted and the weak.
Let the Holy Spirit give us the courage
to bring his good news of hope and joy
to all who wait for him and need him,
whether they know it or not.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading
I Rejoice, for God Is Near to the Humble: To the poor, the brokenhearted, people imprisoned in their fears, the prophet announces in the name of God: Rejoice, salvation is coming. God is with you. We hear first the words of the prophet, then the response of the people.
Mission of the Prophet
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up broken hearts, to proclaim liberty to the captives, freedom to those languishing in prison;
to announce the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God; to give comfort to all who grieve;
The New Jerusalem
I rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul exults for joy in my God, for he has clothed me in the garments of his salvation, he has covered me with the robe of his righteousness, like a bridegroom wearing a garland, like a bride adorned with jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden makes seeds spring up, so will the Lord God make justice and praise spring up in the sight of all nations.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (Is 61:10b) My soul rejoices in my God.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
R. My soul rejoices in my God.
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
R. My soul rejoices in my God.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
R. My soul rejoices in my God.
Second Reading
Rejoice: The Lord Is Coming: Paul asks his Christians to be joyful and to prepare for the coming of the Lord by their holy Christian living.
Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing
and give thanks to God at all times. This is God’s will for you as Christians.
Do not quench the Spirit,
do not despise the prophets’ warnings.
Test everything thoroughly and cling to what is good.
Stay away from evil, no matter where it is.
May the God of peace make you holy and bring you to perfection. May you be completely blameless in spirit, soul, and body until the coming of Christ Jesus, our Lord;
he who called you is faithful and will accomplish it.
Alleluia Verse
Isaiah 61:1 (cited in Luke 4:18)
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Among You Stands He Whom You Do Not Know: John the Baptist is God’s messenger of Good News to the people who are humble enough to expect God’s help; the Savior is already here, but you have not recognized him, says John.
A man came, sent by God; his name was John.
He came to bear witness, as a witness to introduce the light, so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light,
but a witness to introduce the light;
Testimony of John the Baptist
This was John’s testimony when the Jews sent priests and Levites to ask him:
“Who are you?”
John acknowledged the truth and refused to deny it. He stated:
“I am not the Messiah.”
They asked him:
“Then who are you? Elijah?”
He answered:
“I am not.”
They said:
“Are you the Prophet?”
And he answered:
“No.”
So they said to him:
“Tell us who you are so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. How do you see yourself?”
John said, quoting the prophet Isaiah:
“I am the voice of one
crying out in the wilderness:
Make straight the way of the LORD!”
Those who were sent were Pharisees;
and they asked John another question: “Then why are you baptizing if you are not the Messiah, Elijah, or the Prophet?”
John answered:
“I baptize you with water, but among you stands one you do not recognize;
although he comes after me, I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal.”
This took place in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Prayers of the Faithful
While we wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us recognize him already present in our hope and in our love. Let us ask him to bring before his Father the needs and the cares of his people as we pray: R/ Come, Lord, stay with us.
– Lord, we pray for the Catholic Church and for all Christian Churches. May all bear witness to your presence by their concern for justice and peace, their search for unity and their respect for consciences, and above all by their hope in your future, we pray: R/ Come, Lord, stay with us.
– Lord, we pray for all Christians. May they be always people of joy, happy and serene even in the tensions of life, for you have brought us forgiveness and mercy and you let us live in your love. Let our joy be contagious, we pray: R/ Come, Lord, stay with us.
– Lord, we pray for all who sincerely seek you. Like you, may they bring freedom to prisoners, food and drink to the needy. Let them speak words of encouragement to the brokenhearted and in this way proclaim the Good News to the poor, we pray: R/ Come, Lord, stay with us.
– Lord, we pray for ourselves. Let us be a community of faith and hope, of compassion, mutual respect, and service, of unity and sharing, where each feels responsible for the others. May this show people that you are alive among us, we pray: R/ Come, Lord, stay with us.
Come, stay with us, Lord, and let nothing come between you and us, between us and people. Keep us in your love now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
we welcome your Son in our midst
with simple gifts of bread and wine,
your present to us, and also the fruit
of rain and sunshine and the work of our hands.
Let the Spirit of your Son be also upon us
to help us welcome one another
with the bread and the love we share
and with the wine of our joy.
Let this be the sacrifice we offer you today
together with your Son in our midst,
Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
Before the Eucharistic Prayer
Let us with joy give thanks to the Father with Jesus, his Son, already in our midst.
Introduction to the Lord's Prayer
Let us pray to God our Father
for the coming of his Son
and of his kingdom: R/ Our Father...
Prayer for Peace
Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles:
I leave you peace, my peace I give you.
But we are each seeking our own little peace
at the expense of others;
peace is often on our lips,
but we do not know how to live in peace.
Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church,
and grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom
where you live for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
Invitation to Communion
Happy are we to be invited
to the meal of joy of the Lord.
For this is the Savior announced by the Baptist,
he who is in our midst
and whom we do not always recognize,
Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
we thank you for the joy of this Eucharist.
You have given us a glimpse
of him whom we do not know well,
Jesus Christ, your Son.
Let him stay with us now in everyday life
and help us to know him better
by learning to recognize him
in the people around us,
especially in the poor and the humble,
and by doing for one another
what he did and still does for us.
We ask you this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
In this Eucharist we heard the words of the prophet:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me;
he sent me to bring the Good News to the poor.”
At the beginning of this preaching,
Jesus uses the same words about himself.
We share in his mission:
we have to make him visible
in the Church and in the world of today
by our concern for the poor and the humble.
May we carry out this task with joy,
and with the blessing of Almighty God:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
May the Lord go with you wherever you go. R/ Thanks be to God.
REFLECTIONS
Gospel: John 1:6-8, 19-28
Commentary by Fr. Fernando Armellini (excerpt)
The first words God speaks in the Bible are: “Let there be light.” God saw that the light was good and separated it from the darkness. From then on, light has been the symbol of the positive, beautiful, and good throughout the Bible. “God is wrapped in light as in a cloak,” says Psalm 104. This symbolism continues throughout the New Testament, and it is above all John who takes it up. At the beginning of his first letter, he says: “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness.” From the beginning of his Gospel, in the prologue, he presents the coming of the Son of God to the world as the emergence of light.
Humanity was wrapped in dense darkness, the darkness of evil, sin, and injustice; in this darkness, the light of heaven descended. How was it received? He also says this in the prologue, at the beginning of his Gospel. As expected, the darkness did not resign itself to disappearing; it reacted and made war against the light. And John, in Asia Minor, in Ephesus, where he lived the last years of his life, personally experienced this dramatic opposition to the light of the Gospel. Those who accepted the Gospel in Asia Minor, in Ephesus, and refused to worship the statue of the beast, that is, to adapt to the criteria on which the pagan empire was based, were discriminated against and socially marginalized.
But by the end of the first century, John could happily affirm, as he wrote the prologue to his Gospel: “The darkness has not conquered light.” At the beginning of his Gospel, he introduces the figure of the Baptist.
[…]
This is a question we must each address: What do you say about yourself? How aware are you of your role in God’s plan? What meaning does it have for your life? What are you doing in this world? Here is the importance of becoming aware of who we are: what do you say about yourself, not what others say about you? The Baptist answers, declaring his identity and mission: “I, a voice.” He does not say ‘I am’ – ‘I, a voice of one who shouts in the desert.’
He does not appear as the Word but as the voice that serves the Word. Saint Augustine clearly distinguished between voice and word. The voice is the sound; it is what I am doing now. The voice serves the word; therefore, the voice, the sound, must disappear because if the sound remains, it only creates confusion; the sound must disappear so that the word remains. The Baptist is voice, not word. He serves the word; once his mission is accomplished, he must step aside. If he had wanted to remain on the scene, he would have created misunderstandings, and a cult of personality would have arisen. That ruins so many people who follow what is said about them: the applause of flatterers or their pride.
[…]
It is a beautiful message offered to us this Sunday. First, let’s recognize that we, too, are still shrouded in darkness. Perhaps we have intuited something of the light of Christ, but perhaps he is among us and we still do not know him. We must grasp the message the Baptist gives us: Become aware of your condition; if you do not have the light of Christ, you will not reach the land of freedom.
Excerpt from the transcription of the video commentary by Fr. Fernando Armellini, SCJ, published on bibleclaret.com.