The third Sunday of Advent, traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday, summons us to the joy that accompanies our encounter with Christ during this Advent season. The prophet Isaiah drew on nature to describe the transformation of those who make ready to welcome the promised Messiah at his coming. The joy that he described is equally a description of the joy that awaits us as the Spirit leads us into the celebration of Christ’s birth.
Isaiah spoke of wasteland and wilderness breaking into bloom, rejoicing to welcome the glory of God. These powerful images describe different aspects of sinful humanity in its journey to God. Without God we become a wilderness, a wasteland in which faith, hope and love have begun to die. Advent, a time of waiting, affords us the opportunity to acknowledge that we can so easily become what the psalmist describes: a dry, weary land without water.
