Sunday 14 December 2025
3rd Sunday of Advent – ​​Year A
Gaudete Sunday

Homily by Father Emmanuel Schwab

First reading: Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10
Psalm 145 (146), 7, 8, 9ab, 10a
Second reading: James 5:7-10
Gospel: Matthew 11,2-11

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John the Baptist saw the Spirit descend like a dove and rest on Jesus. He heard the Father's voice saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3:17). It seems to me that John has no doubt about who Jesus is. So why does he ask the question? "Are you the one who is supposed to come, or should we wait for someone else?" Well, John doesn't ask the question himself; he has his disciples ask it while he's in prison. It seems to me that two interpretations are possible. 

One: we remember John's forceful preaching, who does not see what he had announced as he thought it would unfold, and he provokes Jesus: yes or no, are you going to manifest yourself clearly? First interpretation. 

Second interpretation: John sends his disciples to discover for themselves who Jesus is. And Jesus doesn't answer with a simple yes or no, which would be pointless, but invites them to decipher what is happening. Watch and then go back and report it to John. “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor receive the good news.” — literally, the poor are evangelized. And when you hear that, you think back to chapter 61 of the book of Isaiah that Jesus read in the synagogue of Nazareth at the beginning of his public ministry, when he gets up to read, he reads that passage, and after rolling up the scroll of the book and handing it back to the attendant, he gives this very brief homily: “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears.” (Lk 4:21). That is to say, the one who has just proclaimed this is truly the one upon whom the Spirit rests and who acts in this way. Therefore, the disciples of John the Baptist must interpret what is happening. Since we did not see God, since we did not see the true identity of each person, we need mediation, we need signs that will be manifestations of God, manifestations of Christ, manifestations of the deep identity of individuals, but we must interpret, just as we must interpret manifestations of love… For no gesture, no word carries love within itself. It is the one who speaks, the one who acts, who loves or who does not love; but one can say “I love you” without love, and one can say “I love you” in love. The words “I love you” alone are not enough to express love: they need to be interpreted within a relationship. The Bible teaches us how to interpret love, and Thérèse also teaches us how to interpret it. 

When we read Thérèse's writings carefully, we clearly see how she is able to say, through her experiences, "There, I recognized the hand of God, there, I recognized the action of Jesus." I have already said this several times here, but I gladly repeat it: when, at four and a half, she lost her mother, upon returning from the funeral, Céline rushed into Marie's arms, saying, "You will be my mother"—Marie being the eldest of the siblings. And Thérèse, always doing as Céline did, but with her own unique touch, threw herself into the arms of Pauline, the second child, saying, "You will be my mother." And when she reread this at the age of 22, she wrote:

On the day the Church blessed the mortal remains of our little Mother in Heaven, the good Lord wished to give me another on earth, and he wanted me to choose her freely. (MsA 12 v°)

Looking back on her life, she understands that it wasn't just her choice: it was a gift from God. 

In her “complete conversion” at Les Buissonnets at Christmas 1886, when she finally managed to control her hyper-emotionality, to hold back her tears, to contain her emotion, she did not simply say: “I have succeeded”, she said:

In an instant, Jesus accomplished the work I had been unable to do in ten years, content with my good will, which never failed me. (MsA 45 v°)

Looking back, still at the age of 22, on this event she experienced when she was about to turn 14, she says: but this is a gift from God, this is an action of Jesus. What she experienced takes place within her: she deciphers the action of the Lord. 

Holy Scripture, like the saints and especially Thérèse, teaches us to decipher God's presence and action in our lives. But we must know how to look… When the Lord says: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them.” Perhaps we say to ourselves: but I've never seen deaf people hear. I've seen deaf people with hearing aids who couldn't hear. I haven't seen blind people regain their sight. I haven't seen, etc. I haven't seen the dead rise again… Yes, but I have seen people who were indifferent to the Word of God and who, one day, heard the Word of God and were converted by the Word of God.

I have seen people who did not know God, who were ignorant of God, and one day their eyes were opened, they saw the mystery of God and they began to follow Jesus.

I have seen people who were slaves to many things, who were as if dead in their hearts, and who, in the encounter with Christ and in the encounter with Christians, rediscovered the taste of life, and that one can say about them, as about the son in the parable of the prodigal son: "This son of mine was dead and has come to life." (Lk 15:24).

There are always—and we have them here regularly—testimonies. There are always physical healings, but physical healings are very temporary since we must all die one day. Whereas for the one who discovers the Lord Jesus, for the one who discovers that in Holy Scripture, God truly speaks, for the one who contemplates the mystery of God, for the one who awaits Heaven, it is definitive! Death will not put an end to this, but death will bring all of this to its fulfillment. We already taste eternity when we contemplate the mystery of God and recognize in Jesus the Savior who leads us into the Kingdom. And all of this requires our patience because God is patient: he never tires of waiting for us, as Thérèse wrote, recounting her work with novices: "The good Lord made me understand that there are souls whom his mercy never tires of waiting for" (MsC, 20v-21r). The Lord is patient; the Lord waits for each one of us. The Lord has promised us Heaven, but he does not want us to enter it by force: he wants us to enter it joyfully, and time is given to us so that we may truly allow ourselves to be converted by the Lord. That is why the prophet reminds us: “Strengthen the weak hands, make firm the feeble knees, say to those who are afraid: ‘Be strong, do not fear. Here is your God.’”

In these troubled times, in these difficult times when some warn us of possible wars in our own backyard, we Christians must keep our eyes open, first to seek the truth, and then not to be afraid… Remain at peace because we are with Jesus, and because, whatever the external circumstances of our lives, our task will always be to bear witness to God's mercy, to bear witness to Heaven toward which we journey, to bear witness to Christ who saves us and enables us to love as he loves us. And therefore, to be active witnesses of God's charity by loving as God loves us.

It is not external circumstances that should guide our hearts: it is Heaven that we await, it is Jesus whom we follow, he who is the Prince of Peace. It is he who gives us his peace and who does not give it as the world gives it; it is he whose disciples we are. 

Let us ask for this grace to truly cling to Jesus above all else, and each day, offering him our whole life, to seek to welcome him, to recognize the signs of his merciful presence and to advance without fear on the path to the Kingdom.

Amen

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