The main theme of the liturgy of the third Sunday, whose readings are Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10; Psalm 146; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11, is a call for Christian hope and courage.

The first reading conveys   a sense of joyful anticipation as the birth of Jesus draws near which is fulfilled as Jesus arrives on the scene as we read in the Gospel. But James warns us against the anxiety which marked the early Christians who many times expressed their impatience at the delay of Christ.

He teaches us a good lesson today; although our hope in the coming of Christ is very well founded, we must know that God’s time and ways of doing things are different from ours.

Our Christian hope should be marked by courage and patience and void of any element of anxiety. There is a strong Christian feeling that God is for us and that he cannot abandon us.

This feeling triggers a lot of courage and patience in our life as Christians.  In Isaiah 35: 1- 6, the prophet brings out this idea very well: "Strengthen all weary hands, steady all trembling knees, say to all faint hearts: courage, do not be afraid, your God is coming to save you.”

In a rather colorful way, Isaiah uses the image of the desert, made fertile by rain from heaven, to portray the hope of his people, crushed by misfortune, yet capable of rebirth.

For us Christians living in the New Testament; we have been born again with Christ. Our hope should be based on the fact that, there stands among us the one who will finally come in glory. We have reason to rejoice because our salvation has already begun.

During this period of Advent, the prophet brings out the element of hope and courage as characteristic of the season of Advent; a time to prepare ourselves for the birth of the saviour Jesus Christ.

In our case, the experience of the desert may be compared to our spiritual dryness, our sense of guilt due to different failures, some loop holes in our relationship with different people and many other short comings.

All these elements which may form a sort of crushing burden on our shoulders are what the prophet refers to as a desert in us. Isaiah is telling us not to despair, because our desert shall be made fertile by the water from heaven, with the birth of Jesus in our hearts.

The above confident tone which is epitomised by the beautiful words of Isaiah should reach each Christian, during this period, in his or her ears: "Fear not, be strong, your God will not abandon you, he shall come to save you.” 

With these words Christians are reminded the riches of the divine life offered to them. It is that grace of God in us, which should mark us and keep high our hope in the power of God instead of brooding over our human weakness.

As Christians we have received God’s grace which enables us to become one with Christ and to live according to the ideals proposed by Christ. Of course, we are not inert recipients of grace, but we cooperate actively with the saving will of God. 

It is from this background of our life of grace that we correctly interpret prophet Isaiah when he talks of God’s readiness to help his people; when Yahweh shall cause fresh springs in the thirsty wilderness, man will be relieved of his or her most crippling disabilities such as blindness, deafness, lameness etc… 

In our everyday life, anxiety is commonly defined as emotional condition in which there is intense fear and uncertainty about the future. It is a very undesirable mental state which we may harbor as we wait for some important people or events.

This state of mind often times calls for different defense mechanisms which might seem useful but are self-deceptive.

James is telling us that spiritually such a thing might happen to us and that is why our Christian hope should be marked with courage and patience, but void of any kind of anxiety. Summing up his idea, he likened our Christian hope to that of a sensible farmer: ‘the Christian must work his land waiting patiently for God’s promised blessing’.

In his presentation of Christian hope, Matthew 11: 2-11, tells us that the very nature of the mission of Christ is enough to eliminate any element of anxiety in the hope of a believer.

Our Christian hope is essentially based on the mission of Christ which is of mercy and of healing. Our anxiety would have meaning if Jesus was exactly as John the Baptist had proclaimed: a stern judge with a fiery judgment! Jesus reminds John through the latter’s disciples that the messiah comes not to condemn but to save, and that healing, forgiveness and redemption are the hall marks of God’s judgment.

With hope therefore, we must heed the call of John the Baptist, to cooperate with the saving will of God by changing our ways through repentance. Of course it is not so simple, but where there is a will there is a way. 

Ends