Homily 3rd Sunday of Advent - December 14, 2025f

 Today's readings can be found here.

            How are you preparing for Christmas?  In our family, there’s a lot of baking going on.  My mom is busy buying fish for our annual Christmas Eve dinner.  My son hosts a party where he cooks a gourmet meal for his friends.  He’s busy planning his menu.  We’re also decorating the house and shopping for gifts.  I’m sure many of you are doing similar things.  This is also a time when we’re thinking of others.  There are many opportunities to give to those that have less than we do.  Many of us purchase gifts for the giving tree.  Or we donate food so families have a great Christmas meal.

            Most of us think of the season of Advent as a time to prepare for Christmas.  And it is.  On Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus and commemorate His coming into the world.  However, Advent is more than that.  Advent is a time for us to prepare for when Jesus comes again.  As we reach halfway through the Advent season, how are we preparing for His coming again?  In preparing for Christmas, we do many things for ourselves and our families.  We also do things for others.  To prepare for Jesus coming again, we should do the same throughout the year, not only during this season.

            Our Scriptures today speak of patience.  The early Christians expected Jesus to return right away, likely in their lifetimes.  When that didn’t happen, they became discouraged.  James reminds them to be patient.  Along with that, James admonishes them not to complain about each other.  In our Gospel, John sends his disciples to Jesus to see if He was the one to come.  The Jewish people of that time were tired of the occupation of their land.  They expected the Messiah to come and overthrow the Romans.  If Jesus wasn’t the Messiah, they didn’t want to waste time following the wrong person.  The Jewish people and early Christians were getting impatient!

            Patience is a grace we should pray for and work on for ourselves as we await Jesus’ coming again.  I’m sure we all feel that our culture is becoming more impatient.  We have access to information and resources so quickly we’ve lost the ability to wait.  Have you ever felt like throwing your phone against the wall when that website takes 30 seconds to load up?  I admit there have been times I’ve stood near my wife looking at my watch when I’m ready to go but she isn’t.  In many ways, we’ve lost the ability to wait.  It reminds me of a line from one of my favorite Queen songs.  I want it all, and I want it now.

            Learning patience helps us to serve others.  We learn to be in the moment with other people.  To focus on them.  It also leads to being more peaceful.  I find that the more impatient I get, the more frustrated and angry I get.  This isn’t good for me or for anyone around me.  We learn to be more patient by letting go of our expectations.  We should realize that we have little control over other people or of the events in our lives.  All we can control is our reactions to them.  By learning patience, we open ourselves to letting God control our lives so we can do God’s will.

            We can also prepare for Jesus’ coming again by continuing the practices we do during Advent.  We should continue to give to others and follow Jesus’ example in ministering to others.  Jesus called John the messenger sent to prepare the way for Him.  Are we messengers like John?  How are we preparing the way for Jesus throughout the year?  In our first reading, Isiah provides encouragement to the Israelites.  He tells them to be strong, and fear not.  We too can strengthen our hands in prayer to discern how we can help others.  We can encourage others by our actions and how we live our lives.  We can invite people we know to attend Mass if they don’t come regularly.  We can invite fellow parishioners to become involved in our many parish ministries.  We can be patient with them if they don’t accept.

            When Jesus was asked if He was the one to come, He didn’t say yes or no.  He told John’s disciples to look at His actions.  Was He doing the things the Messiah was supposed to do?  Our actions, throughout the year, should show that we’re preparing for Jesus’ coming.  That caring for others, especially those less fortunate than we, is what it means to be a follower of Jesus.  That we recognize Jesus as our Lord and King.  That we love God, our neighbors, and our enemies.

            Advent is a time of preparation.  We prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth.  But more importantly we’re preparing for Jesus’s coming again.  This preparation is a yearlong effort, not just during the four weeks before Christmas.  What are we doing to prepare ourselves to receive Jesus?  How can we a messenger for Jesus like John?  Jesus told John’s disciples tell John what they saw.  Let’s work to allow others see Jesus when they see us.