December 15, 2019

3^rd Sunday of Advent (A)

Be Patient in the Desert

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

St. John the Baptist is a prominent “Advent figure.” Last week, we saw him in the desert as a powerful preacher, surrounded by crowds of eager listeners. Today we find him in different circumstances—in prison, suffering and alone. And yet through his disciples who manage to see him, he poses a great question to Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come or are we to expect another?” which is to say, “Are you, Jesus, the Messiah that we have awaited?”
 
It is a question we might find ourselves asking when we witness the many evils in the world and when we are faced with the problems in our own lives. They are the moments when we ask: “Where are you Lord? Are you not the Savior? Why don’t you act? Don’t you see what I am going through, Lord? When will you answer me and come to my aid?” We truly make our own the responsorial of today’s Mass: “Lord, come and save us!”
 
You see, “Come, Lord Jesus” the final verse in Scripture, is not only a song for December. It is the refrain of our entire lives. John the Baptist would receive his answer. The Messiah had indeed come and so he would go to his martyrdom, not in doubt, not despairing, but in joy.
 
Today the prophet Isaiah speaks to us of the desert. When we are overwhelmed by problems and stresses, we might feel as if we are wandering about in a desert, tempted to despair.
 
Isaiah offers us hope in those desert moments. He says the feeble and frightened will be strengthened. Sorrow and mourning will flee and there will be everlasting joy and gladness. These are hardly things we hope to find in the desert, but they are God’s promise to us.
 
In today’s epistle, St. James tells us that patience is essential when we experience those “desert moments.” For most of us, this virtue is in short supply.
 
Comedian Will Ferrell advised that “Before marrying someone you should first make them use a computer with very slow internet, just to see who they really are.” Someone else said “Patience is what parents have when there are witnesses!” But Mother Angelica expressed it best when she said, “Patience is adjusting your time to God’s time." That is not an easy task.
 
Anyone in a desert wants immediate relief! God’s clock doesn’t always sync with our own and so we can become discouraged. When those times come we must be patient remembering three truths:
 

• God is the author of time...he knows how to manage it perfectly. He has the larger perspective of time.
• God makes no mistakes. It is impossible for him to fail and he does all things with a purpose.
• God knows more than we do. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our every need.

If we are in “God’s waiting room” right now...we might pray in these words:

Thank you, Lord for the blessings of this day. But I confess that it is hard to feel your presence or hear your voice. I call to you, Lord from my quiet darkness. Show me your mercy and love. Let me see your face and hear your voice. Let me touch the hem of your cloak. Help me adjust my timing to yours. Help me to trust that you will come to me and say, as you did to the apostles, “Do not be afraid. It is I.” Let that moment come soon, Lord. And if you delay it, then make me patient. Amen.