Homily – 3rd Sunday of Advent – A – Fr Jeremiah Browne (National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies #southafrica #Botswana #eswatini #Swaziland)
Elie Wiesel, a Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor, was once asked to describe his faith. In his answer he used the adjective “wounded.” He said, “My tradition teaches that no heart is as whole as a broken heart, and I would say that no faith is as solid as a wounded faith.”
Wiesel spoke from a place where belief had been tested by suffering rather than sheltered from it. His words resonate deeply with this Third Sunday of Advent, traditionally called Gaudete Sunday, a day marked by joy that is honest rather than naïve.
The first reading (Isaiah 35:1-6,10) from the prophet Isaiah offers a vision of hope to a weary people: “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad.” Isaiah speaks to those worn down by exile, fear and uncertainty. He doesn’t deny their hardship. He promises transformation within it. Weak hands are strengthened.
Fearful hearts are steadied. God’s coming is announced not by escape from reality but by renewal in the midst of it. Joy, in Isaiah’s vision, is practical. It takes flesh in healing, restoration and renewed courage.
The Gospel (Matthew 11:2–11) deepens this message. Matthew tells us that John the Baptist, now imprisoned, sends word to Jesus with a blunt question: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” This is the same John who leapt in the womb, who proclaimed the coming Kingdom, who pointed unflinchingly to the Lamb of God. Now he doubts.
Darkness, confinement and disappointment have taken their toll. Scripture doesn’t conceal this reality; rather, it dares to place such wounded faith before us, so that we might recognise something of ourselves in that difficult place. This is faith bruised by circumstance yet still courageous enough to reach out, to ask the hard question, to hope that an answer will come.
Jesus’ response is striking. He doesn’t rebuke John. He doesn’t offer a theological lecture. He points to lived reality: “Go back and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk… the poor have good news brought to them.” Jesus answers doubt with evidence of compassion in action. His points to the practical ways in which we see the lives of people being improved.
It seems that John’s question arises because Jesus doesn’t fit the picture of the messiah that he expected. John expected a Messiah of judgement and decisive intervention, one who would clear the threshing floor and bring history to a turning point. Instead, Jesus moves slowly, gently, attending to the broken, the poor and the overlooked. In a way, John’s faith is tested, not because of suffering, but because of unmet expectation.
What if faith has more to do with recognising where God is already at work than with insisting that God act according to our timetable or expectations? What if hope grows not when everything is resolved in the way we imagined, but when we allow ourselves to be drawn into the quiet, often unnoticed, work of healing and restoration that is already unfolding around us?
When faith becomes fixed on how things should be, disappointment easily follows; when faith becomes attentive to what is being done, even in small and imperfect ways, it begins to steady itself and mature.
This raises a searching question for our own time: have you ever noticed how people who participate in solving problems do not seem to be as depressed as those standing on the sidelines doing nothing?
This question invites us to look honestly at our own spiritual landscape. When our energy is spent waiting for things to change, or for others to act, discouragement can quietly take hold. Despair thrives where there is disengagement. Hope grows where people take responsibility, however small their contribution may seem. When we visit the sick, listen patiently, forgive deliberately, speak for justice, or serve quietly, something shifts within us. We become part of God’s healing work. Hope finds expression. Faith finds movement. Joy begins to surface, not as a feeling we generate, but as a fruit of engagement with God’s work in the world.
Advent, then, is not only about waiting for Christ to come; it is about noticing how Christ is already present and deciding whether we will join in.
This 3rd Sunday of Advent invites a gentle but challenging examination of heart. Where might my expectations of God need to be softened or reshaped? Where have I been standing back, disappointed that things are not unfolding as I hoped? Where is God already at work around me, quietly and persistently, inviting my participation?
What small step might the Holy Spirit be asking of me now? What wounded place within my own faith might become, like John’s, not a failure but a doorway to deeper trust? We know it well: Broken hearts that have found peace, when offered to God, often become the most generous instruments of hope in the lives of others who are still searching.
Joy Sunday reminds us that joy doesn’t wait for everything to be resolved. Joy emerges when we recognise Christ at work and choose to walk alongside him.
May we allow our wounded faith to guide us into action, to open our hearts to God’s ongoing work, and to become instruments of hope and joy for a world still in need of healing.
*****************
If you would like to make a monetary donation to support the Mission of the Church you can do so on our website using the give button: https://missio-sacbc.org/donate
**************
Please consider praying a decade of the rosary on a daily basis for the evangelising Mission of the Church and the Pope’s intentions.
For Christians in areas of conflict
Let us pray that Christians living in areas of war or conflict, especially in the Middle East, might be seeds of peace, reconciliation, and hope.
*****************
Blessed Pauline Jaricot, Pray for us. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
*****************
Batswana Catholics Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference Diocese of Francistown Diocese of Francistown Youth & Young Adults Diocese of Mthatha Catholic Diocese Of Kroonstad Missionary Childhood DIOCESE OF WITBANK YOUTH MINISTRY Bethlehem Diocese Youth DIOCESE OF CAPE TOWN Catholic Diocese of Port Elizabeth