2 When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus 3 with this question, “Are you the One who is to come, or should we look for another?”4 Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 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. 6 And blessed is the one who takes no offence at Me.”7 As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, 8 “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. 9 Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 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. 11 Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the King-dom of Heaven is greater than he” (Mt 11:2-11).

St. John the Baptist in prison – Church of St. John the Baptist, Nova Scotia (Canada)

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By the divine will, the search for happiness orients the life of all human creatures. The Liturgy for Gaudete Sunday shows the true way to find it and offers a sound example to follow.

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT (GAUDETE SUNDAY)

The Way to Happiness

I – An Injection of Courage to Reach the Goal

The famous war strategist Karl von Clausewitz1 said that the best way to conquer an adversary is to make him lose the will to fight, for the breaking of his morale is

the principal cause of his physical defeat. When we make a half-hearted effort to reach our goal, we fall short of it. On the other hand, firm confidence, based on lively faith, generates energy and enthusiasm to courageously persevere until the end. When we feel that our courage is flagging as we carry out an arduous task, a burst of hope is all it takes to redouble our efforts and ensure our success.

On the Third Sunday of Advent, called Gaudete Sunday, the Church wishes to provide a moment of respite amid the rig-ours of the period of penance in order to assuage the sadness stirred by the remembrance of sins with the joyful thought that the nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ is drawing near. We will

1) VON CLAUSEWITZ, Carl. Grundgedanken über Krieg und Kriegführung. Leipzig: Insel, 1915, p.47-48.

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soon be liberated from our misery, if we hearken to its teachings and open up to the graces that He brings us, and we can forge ahead with enthusiasm, comforted by the certainty that salva-tion will be ours. Joy is the key note of this Mass; the rose-col-oured vestments and liturgical texts express this true joy at the approaching arrival of the Redeemer, while not altogether do-ing away with the penitential character. After original sin, the cross became necessary for obtaining glory in the fulfilment of the end for which we were created.

The human creature’s thirst for happinessIf we examine each human creature, we will find that they

all want to attain happiness. When Adam, a finely-worked clay figure, came forth from the divine hands and received the breath of life, he already possessed this aspiration. And it was abundant-ly met with his participation in the very nature of God, Absolute Happiness. So sublime was the figure of this man that the Lord would visit him in Paradise, in the cool of the day (cf. Gn 3:8). Our first parents were happy! However, expelled from this place of de-lights as a result of sin, Adam and Eve found themselves obliged to live in this world of hardship; yet they did not lose their desire for happiness. They burned with the longing to return to that for-mer state, to enjoy the marvels they had known in Eden. Later, with the establishment of the people of Israel, especially belov-ed by Providence, they awaited the advent of a Saviour who would rescue them from their plight.

With the passing of centuries and millennia, the Hebrews—ever in a state of flux, and repeatedly subject to slavery—always nurtured the idea that the Messiah would be a man equipped with merely natural gifts, the bearer of human and political solutions to all their problems. The prevailing mystery was with regard to the coming of this envoy who would bring happiness—which they no longer imagined in a Paradisiacal sense, but according to earthly standards. Something similar happens with us, for we know that the centre of our life and the source of our joy is Our Lord Jesus Christ; but worldly illusions suggest a pseudo-happiness based on a

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Our Lord was embarking on the second year of His public life and had already performed

many miraclesRising of the son of the widow of Nain –

Gloucester Cathedral (England)

good career, landing an inheritance, a prestigious position, an ad-vantageous marriage, or perhaps lucrative business dealings. In short, for those who think like this, happiness is found in material goods, not in God. And this is a lamentable error.

To do away with this fallacy, the Liturgy of Gaudete Sunday shows us the true way to happiness and offers a sound example to follow.

II – The Joy of Fulfilling One’s Mission

The episode narrat-ed in the Gospel pas-sage from the Third

Sunday of Advent takes place under very special circum-stances. Our Lord was em-barking on the second year of His public life and had already performed many miracles; He was returning from the hamlet of Nain, where He had taken the initiative to resurrect the son of a widow (cf. Lk 7:11-15). As He passed through the winding roads of the re-gion, He had entered the vil-lage and encountered some men carrying a cadaver. He or-dered the procession to a halt and restored the dead man to life, subsequently giving him back to his mother. This epi-sode had made a huge impact which, added to many others, had set Israel abuzz with talk of the great Prophet who had emerged.

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The Precursor paid for his fidelity to truth with imprisonment2a When John the Baptist heard in prison...

John the Baptist, an upright man who had recently shak-en Israel with his preaching and example of life, had been im-prisoned. The Precursor had forthrightly proclaimed some truths to King Herod Antipas—who, slave to his own passions, was controlled by a concubine, the wife of his brother Philip—and therefore, the tyrant resolved to seize him. A striking con-trast: the disorderly and unbridled passions of Herod give him liberty for unlawful actions, while the honesty of John the Bap-tist leads him to prison.

Looking at this from the perspective of Gaudete Sunday, a question arises: Which of the two ex-

periences true joy—Antipas, the adulterer, or St. John the Bap-

tist, imprisoned for fidelity? We should be convinced

that God created man for an eternal destiny, in joy or in suffering. Accord-ingly, true joy is that which leads to heavenly happiness and not that which results in endless torment. Nevertheless,

it would be humanity’s fancy to create a third

way: a limbo with neither suffering nor the possibil-ity of the beatific vision, but merely a natural life, a life of the senses, for all eternity.

Let us recall the im-portant maxim: “non datur tertius — there is no third

The disorderly and unbridled passions of Herod give him liberty for unlawful actions,

while the honesty of John the Baptist leads him to prison

Herod with Herodias – National Art Museum of Catalonia, Barcelona

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option.” This is a smokescreen, an illusion created by satan when he fell from Heaven, for it does not exist in reality. Either we transgress the moral law and give free rein to our evil inclinations, producing in ourselves the pseudo-happiness of Herod Antipas, or we have integrity, in imitation of John the Baptist, and are at every moment in “prison”; that is, dom-inating ourselves and keeping our disordered inclinations and passions in check.

Exclusive concern for Christ’s glory2b ...of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus 3 with this question, “Are you the One who is to come, or should we look for another?”

What events had led the Precursor, already in prison, to or-der his disciples to pose this question to the Divine Master? Be-fore hazarding a guess, let us recall that he is a Saint, considered by Our Lord to be the greatest man born until that time. Thus, it could not be a doubt as to the identity of Christ, to whom he had already attested in very clear terms: “Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29); “After me comes He Who is mightier than I, the thong of whose san-dals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mk 1:7-8). John the Baptist knew perfectly well who Jesus was, and needed no explanation.

Then, why did he send them with the task of inquiring about the Messianic character of Our Lord? Faithful to his mission of pointing out the Son of God, he burned with the desire that everyone recognize the Saviour in their midst and longed to transmit to others the joy of having seen Him and of being His contemporary.

St. John the Baptist found himself imprisoned, reduced to inactivity in the tower of Machaerus—Herod’s inaccessible fortress, located in the vicinity of the Dead Sea, 1158 metres

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above sea level.2 News reached him, through his followers, of the repercussions of the great and numerous miracles per-formed by Jesus. The time seemed ripe to send a message to Him Who is the Creator of the universe, the Almighty: “Lord, I am imprisoned; free me!” By a simple act of Our Lord God’s will, the chains would have fallen apart, the fetters opened and he could have left prison. But the Precursor did not think of himself or his needs and wants in imprisonment, and it did not so much as occur to him to ask for relief. For he was indifferent to dying or living: his concern was focused exclusively on the Redeemer’s glory.

A distorted Messianic notionThus, John the Baptist strove to create conditions through

which Our Lord could manifest Himself ever more clearly. He was already spent with vain attempts to convince his disciples, who clung to a political view of the Messiah. They wanted a hu-man king who would ascend to the throne of Israel and give power to his people. Thus they eyed the ministry of Our Lord Jesus Christ with considerable misgivings, for He was a Man capable of performing stupendous miracles, yet He had not made any political statements and He preached the coming of a mysterious Kingdom of God which did not seem to be of this world. Moved by envy, it was difficult for them to believe that He was the Christ, as He did not correspond to their expecta-tions and to the model that they had idealized. Thoughts like this came to their minds: “He was born in Nazareth...”; “His father was a carpenter!”; “Could He really be the Messiah?” (cf. Mt 13:54-57). Something similar had also taken place re-garding the Precursor himself, who had not fulfilled the hope they had placed in him when they began to follow him.

Undoubtedly, this blindness left St. John the Baptist in-dignant; finally he perceived that the only way of breaking through their coldness was to bring them into direct contact with Jesus.

2) Cf. SCHUSTER, Ignacio; HOLZAMMER, Juan B. Historia Bíblica, vol. II: Nuevo Testamento. Barcelona: Litúrgica Española, 1935, p.157-158.

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This was the only thing that could transform them so that they might understand who He was. He had done everything he could for them, sparing no effort to transmit to them the extraordinary joy that the exercise of his mission of Precursor gave him. Accord-ingly, he sent them, confident that Our Lord could do for them that which he personally could not accomplish, and that a conversa-tion with the Master would be an opportunity for them to receive a grace that would act in the depth of their souls and bring about their conversion. This persistence in wanting more for others than for himself and in seeking their supernatural happiness was charac-teristic of the Precursor.

The Evangelist stresses: “When [he] heard [...] of the works of Christ,” to indicate that St. John the Baptist discerned that the mo-ment had come to send them, because of the powerful impact caused by Jesus’ miracles. The wording of the question attests to the fact that they yearned for a Messiah according to another model: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

In contrast with the detachment of their master, whose self-forgetfulness and concern for them was complete, the dis-ciples of St. John the Baptist did not ask anything of Our Lord for the one who had formed them. They had so little love that they were not interested in taking him from prison and free-ing him from that grievous situation. We are like them every time we close in on ourselves and only heed the solicitations of egoism and our personal gain, seeking self more than God and neighbour. As a result, happiness escapes us and our egocen-trism grows.

The miracles proved that He was the Messiah4 Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 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.”

Our Lord’s response, flowing with wisdom, was not: “I am the Messiah.” Most likely, given the dispositions of those

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who questioned Him, a declaration in these terms would not have been well received. His affirmation of-fered the means for them to grasp the truth for themselves, as if He had said: “Consid-er what is happening, look at My works and their consequences, and draw your own conclusions. Those who have witnessed all the wonders I have performed and do not believe I am the Mes-siah are without intel-ligence.” And He re-ferred to the proph-ecies of Isaiah, well known by all the Is-raelites (cf. Is 26:19; 29:18; 35:5; 42:7; 62:1),

as confirmation. In fact, any blind person who cried out from afar, begging for a cure, left His presence able to see, giving thanks to God. He had also restored the health of many para-lytics, such as the one at the pool of Bethzatha (cf. Jn 5:1-9) and the one who was lowered through the roof (cf. Mk 2:3-12). It was enough for Him to touch lepers for their wounds to dis-appear, or the deaf and mute, for them to hear and speak. He had just resurrected a dead man, causing a stir through the whole country, as recalled earlier, and He was bringing the Good News to all. Through it, many acquired—and this is the greatest miracle!—an understanding that they were deficient, incapable of following the path of virtue alone, and realized

“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” (Mt 11:4-5)The disciples telling St. John the Baptist of the

miracles performed by Our Lord – Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Ravensburg (Germany)

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that they needed God’s help. These were evangelized and en-thusiastically received His doctrine.

Nevertheless, they were scandalized...6 “And blessed is the one who takes no offence at Me!”

Our Lord concludes His response with these words, a clear sign that the disciples of John the Baptist had not ac-cepted the message and envied fraternal grace. Instead of re-joicing at seeing another being favoured by God’s goodness, in an evident manifestation of His power, they feared being eclipsed by Jesus’ Person.

Having concluded that Our Lord’s goal was not the res-toration of the kingdom of Israel, they felt frustrated, for they imagined that, by having left all to follow the Precursor, they would hold the first places at the Messiah’s side. They now perceived that they were on a secondary plane and, to jus-tify themselves, they had to find defects in Him that would show, according to their notions, that He was not the Prom-ised One: “He only speaks of the Father, of the eternal King-dom, of life after death; and He comes preaching a resurrec-tion...” In short, they took offence at Him, like the Pharisees who were undoubtedly present, and who held themselves in highest standing, far above the disciples of St. John. Conceit-ed with their knowledge of the Law and of the perfect observ-ance of the rules, they saw Jesus’ miracles and said that He act-ed through the power of the devil (cf. Mt 9:34).

Furthermore, even the Apostles feared that He would con-front the authorities of the Israelite establishment, and feared los-ing the opportunity to follow a great career based on their excep-tional gifts, and for personal gain. That Messiah did not meet the expectations of the Twelve either, and they also took offence. Ac-cordingly, Our Lord affirms: “Blessed is the one who takes no of-fence at Me!”—which is to say, “Happy are those who know that joy lies in the cross alone, despite the world’s belief that it is found elsewhere.”

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The divine lips praise the Precursor7 As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, 8 “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. 9 Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 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.”

The disciples of John go their way, and the Gospel does not tell us whether they acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah or not. Nevertheless, the words of Our Lord are an evident proclamation of His identity, for He evokes the prophecies and proves that He is fulfilling them.

After their departure, Jesus goes on to speak about the im-prisoned one, praising him for not being a reed swayed by the wind—an inconstant person—but a well-grounded man, unshake-able and honest, like a tower or a rock. His austerity prompted him to refuse the fine clothing used by those who enter the political mi-lieu without concern for the religious aspect, preoccupied, before all else, in defining a brilliant social career among worldly powers.

Our Lord wished to further show that John’s grandeur went far beyond his role as prophet. The latter, as is known, is charged with proclaiming, teaching, and guiding, in accordance with God’s will, the path of duty, almost always contrary to the libertine ways proposed by the world. Now, in what way did the Precursor go be-yond the limits of prophetism? Because he had been called, in addi-tion to proclaiming the truth, to prepare the way for the God-Man. St. John Chrysostom has this to say: “And in what is he greater? In being near Him that had come. […] For as with kings, they who ride near the chariot are more illustrious than the rest, just so John also appears in his course near the advent itself. See how [Jesus] signified John’s excellence for this reason also.”3

3) ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. Homilia XXXVII, n.2. In: Obras, vol. I: Homilías sobre el Evangelio de San Mateo (1-45). (Ed.2). Madrid: BAC, 2007, p.734.

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With insight and beauty, Cardinal de La Luzerne exalts the figure of St. John the Baptist, highlighting his unequalled historical role: “He closes the succession of the prophets and opens the mission of the Apostles. He belongs to both the Old Law and the New; he rises up between one and the other like a majestic column, to mark the boundary between the two. Proph-et, apostle, doctor, hermit, virgin, martyr, he is more than all of this, for he is all of this simultaneously. He encompasses all the attributes of sanctity, and by uniting within himself everything that constitutes the various classes of Saints, he forms a special class within them.”4

The importance of the Kingdom of Heaven11 “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the King-dom of Heaven is greater than he.”

At first glance, this verse seems incomprehensible, for how can the greatest among those already born be the least com-pared to the dwellers of the Kingdom of Heaven? Here Our Lord refers to two stages and, therefore, two different births. St. John the Baptist received the life of grace in the womb of St. Elizabeth, by the effects of the voice of Our Lady, and was born without original sin. From this standpoint, he is the great-est, since no other had the privilege of being baptized in this sublime manner. However, to enter Heaven it is necessary to be born to eternity, and the eternal Kingdom is so much more im-portant that even the most sublime man of this world pales in comparison with the righteous who already enjoy the beatific vi-sion. St. Jerome defends this point: “every saint who is already with the Lord is greater than he who yet stands in the battle; for it is one thing to have gained the crown of victory, another to be yet fighting in the field.”5

4) LA LUZERNE, César-Guillaume de. Explication des Évangiles des Dimanches, vol. I. (Ed.9). Paris: Mequignon Junior, 1847, p.42.

5) ST. JEROME. Commentarii in Matthæum, Lib.II (11,2-16,12), c.11, n.80. In: Obras Completas, vol. II: Comentario a Mateo y otros escritos. Madrid: BAC, 2002, p.131.

Despite the difference between the state of the blessed in glory and that of the righteous who fill the ranks of the Church militant, all those who find themselves close to God obtained their crowns by following the path trod by St. John the Baptist, who was great in this world and even greater in the other. His glory is due to his fidelity to the divine plans in every trial and by the acceptance of suffering. This is what made him worthy of the greatest eulogy spoken by Our Lord in the entire Gospel.

III – The Way of True Happiness

This Sunday’s Liturgy calls us to happiness, showing the way to attain it. The contrast be-

tween the protagonists of today’s scene is sharp: while St. John is in prison

and submits to this suffering with full resignation, animated by the

happiness of upholding his in-tegrity and fulfilling his call-

ing, his disciples find themselves deprived of this happiness be-cause of the envy that

consumes them. A sim-ilar bitterness plagues Herod Antipas who is

“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” (Mt 11:11)St. John the Baptist – Amiens Cathedral (France)

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enslaved by his passions, as well as the Pharisees who run after praise and incense, moved by the thirst for earthly glory. Nei-ther are the Apostles entirely happy during this period of the Divine Master’s public life, for they expected a different Mes-siah than the one that stands before them.

Where, then, is joy to be found? In the folly of the Cross. Our Lord Jesus Christ could not be sad nor set out on a way of depression, and yet He chose the way of Calvary to give us the example and to show that the conquest of happiness en-tails adversity and pain. Let us recall His teaching: “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mt 16:24). The idea that happiness ex-cludes suffering is baseless, for since we are inclined to evil by the fall of our first parents, suffering becomes an indispensable element for our sanctification.

Actually, the problem of suffering is not so much in that which causes it, but in the way it is endured. Every situation in life entails suffering and demands from us the courage that this Liturgy presents, of which the Blessed Virgin is the model. She accepted all the sufferings that befell her Divine Son and was ready to make her contribution to the redeeming sacrifice, for she wanted the salva-tion of all.

Our final end is to belong to JesusMade to belong to Our Lord Jesus Christ, the human be-

ing is fulfilled to the degree that he seriously assumes his state as a baptized soul, member of the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church, making strides in the practice of virtue and in the pursuit of holiness. The more we advance along this way, the greater will be our joy and our desire to make even great-er progress.

Let us seriously reflect on our eternal destiny while we await the coming of the Saviour. On Christmas Eve He will be born anew, mystically, and if we apply the lesson of this Liturgy to our lives, He will also be born in our hearts, where He will find a worthy resting place.