Homily for the Third Sunday in Advent

Today’s readings include two of the most important prophets in the history of salvation. The first reading comes from the prophet Isaiah, who is considered to be the greatest prophet of the Old Testament. The Gospel includes John the Baptist, the last of the prophets before the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Both of these figures provide examples of the role of prophecy in the story of salvation. The reading from Isaiah is a proclamation of hope towards the Kingdom of Heaven. John the Baptist’s purpose was to call the Jewish people back to God and point them to Christ. Between the two, we get a clear picture of what it means to be a prophet of God.

John the Baptist is said to be the last prophet, because the role of prophet passed to Our Lord when He became incarnate. The prophets in the Old Testament were part of the Old Covenant between God and the people of Israel. Our Lord, however, was anointed Priest, Prophet, and King for the New Covenant which He established through His Blood.

As members of the Body of Christ, visible in the world through the Church, we share in these roles of priest, prophet and king. Notice that we share in Christ’s role as prophet. As Christians, followers of Christ, we are called to proclaim the Good News of salvation to the whole world. This Good News, the Gospel of Christ, is the message of hope that we have for the Kingdom of Heaven, and echos the message proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah: “Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense, he comes to save you.” (Is 35:4)

Yes, our role as Christians is to proclaim the Good News that our God has come to save us, and that salvation is open to all who accept and follow Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a message we should be proclaiming with our lips, but it is also a message that we should be proclaiming throughout our whole lives. Everything we do and say should proclaim our faith and love for Our Lord and our hope for his salvation.

An example of this is Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her life on Earth was spent humbly pointing others to Her son. From the Annunciation by the Angel Gabriel, to the wedding at Cana, and even at the foot of the Cross, her posture was always one of humble submission which leads people to Christ. Through her apparitions, which have occurred throughout the history of the Church, Our Lady fulfills the role of prophet for Her Son by announcing the message of hope promised in the Kingdom of Heaven and by pointing all humanity to Christ.

This Sunday is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, celebrating the apparition of Our Lady in 1531 at Tepyac Hill in what is now Mexico City. This appearance of Our Lady and the message of hope embodied in it – hope literally embodied, as she appears pregnant with Our Lord in the image which remains to this day – led to the miraculous conversion of the Aztec people to the Catholic faith.

Just as Our Lady proclaims the message of hope to the whole world, we too are called to proclaim that same message. As individuals, each and every one of us should seek the conversion of all to Our Lord, both inside and outside the Church, as well as ourselves. Even those of us who have been baptized Catholics need to hear this call to conversion, to turn again (as the word ‘conversion’ means) to Our Lord.

If we take seriously our faith in Christ and our desire to enter into His salvation, may we boldly and patiently proclaim the Gospel to the whole world for the conversion of ourselves and for all humanity.