Msgr. Roger J. Landry
Convent of the Missionaries of Charity, Bronx
Third Sunday of Advent, Year A
December 14, 2025
Is 35:1-6.10, Ps 146, James 5:7-10, Mt 11:2-11
To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below:
The outline for the homily was:
- On this Gaudete Sunday, we have the great messianic prophecy of Isaiah about joy.
- Desert and parched land will exult
- Steppe will rejoice and bloom
- They will rejoice and bloom with abundant flowers and rejoice with joyful song.
- They will see the glory of the Lord.
- The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf will be cleared, the lamp will leap and the mute will sing.
- They will meet with joy and gladness
- They will be crowned with everlasting joy. This is what we’re made for — not just fleeting but everlasting joy. That will be our great victory.
- Isaiah then gives the way we are to prepare for this
- Strengthen feeble hands
- Make firm weak knees
- Say to the frightened: be strong fear not!
- The reason: God is coming with vindication and divine recompense to save you.
- James tells us that we need to be patient for the full development of this, with hearts firm, like the prophets, like a farmer waits for the harvest, full of hope with the early and late rains.
- In the Gospel, we see that there was a problem with patience.
- Controversy as to whether this impatience was with John or with his disciples.
- I believe it was with John’s disciples, who were doubting whether Jesus was the Messiah, “the one who is to come,” and were still clinging to John in prison.
- They were upset because the Messiah was supposed to set prisoners free and John was still in jail.
- Regardless they go with the question, and Jesus replies by saying, “Go and tell John what you see and hear. The blind, lame, lepers, deaf, dead all receive miracles and the poor have the Gospel proclaimed to them, the Messianic checklist from Is 61. Blessed is he who takes no offense at me.
- There was an issue of trust and Jesus’ messianic priorities.
- Many have had a problem with Jesus’ meekness. His patience. His priorities. He tolerates things we wouldn’t. Because he was coming to save us. He was coming to have our ears opened to his voice, our eyes to his image, our legs to follow him. That is a great source of joy.
- Jesus took the occasion to praise John
- He wasn’t a swaying reed
- He wasn’t dressed in fine clothing
- He was a prophet, and the greatest of prophets, who prepared the way of the Lord.
- Greatest born of woman. Abraham. Moses. Mary.
- But least in the kingdom of heaven is greater. Greater because of their connection to the King. They are children of God by baptism. This, too, is a great source of joy.
- Message
- To trust in the promises and experience already the joy of their fulfillment.
- To be patient, with steadfast hearts.
- Mass
- The place where all of this takes place.
- In the midst of a world that sometimes might seem barren, this is where we are meant to rejoice with joyful song, as we see the humble glory of the Lord and splendor of our God. This is where we meet our God who has come to save us, to open our eyes, and ears, and tongues, and strengthen our limbs. This is where we are reinforced in our identity as sons and daughters of God, as members of the royal family, indeed as sons and daughters in the Son. This is the foretaste of being crowned with everlasting joy as we meet with joy and gladness.
- This is the place where we act on the imperative of Gaudete Sunday in today’s entrance antiphon: Rejoice always in the Lord! Again, I say, rejoice!
The readings for today’s Mass were:
Reading 1
The desert and the parched land will exult;
the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers,
and rejoice with joyful song.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return
and enter Zion singing,
crowned with everlasting joy;
they will meet with joy and gladness,
sorrow and mourning will flee.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (cf. Is 35:4) Lord, come and save us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD God keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Lord, come and save us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD gives sight to the blind;
the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD loves the just;
the LORD protects strangers.
R. Lord, come and save us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations.
R. Lord, come and save us.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading 2
Be patient, brothers and sisters,
until the coming of the Lord.
See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,
being patient with it
until it receives the early and the late rains.
You too must be patient.
Make your hearts firm,
because the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another,
that you may not be judged.
Behold, the Judge is standing before the gates.
Take as an example of hardship and patience, brothers and sisters,
the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
Alleluia
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
When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ,
he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question,
“Are you the one who is to come,
or should we look for another?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
As they were going off,
Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John,
“What did you go out to the desert to see?
A reed swayed by the wind?
Then what did you go out to see?
Someone dressed in fine clothing?
Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces.
Then why did you go out? To see a prophet?
Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom it is written:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way before you.
Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
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