ONE WHOM YE KNOW NOT

A SERMON FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT

Today’s Mass begins with the words: “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice…  The Lord is at hand.”  More than any other time during Advent, we focus today on the joy we feel because Christmas is coming.  Today we cast off our penitential mood and focus instead on the joy that our salvation is nigh.  No violet vestments today, but rose-colored vestments in their place, and flowers are placed once more on the altar.  We are commanded to rejoice, and rejoice we must.

Some of us, however, may not feel like rejoicing.  Christmas, and the holidays in general, can be hectic, busy and annoying.  This time of year can even be depressing for many.  The ghost of Christmas past can come to haunt us with all those memories of childhood, now long gone, gone along with all those cherished loved ones who made those first Christmasses so memorable.  If we feel such thoughts, whether they come as fleeting memories or with the crushing weight of depression, we are instructed today to set them aside and rejoice.

But why do we sometimes have such a hard time feeling the joy of Christmas?  We must remember what Christmas is all about.  Not the visible peripherals of colored lights, gifts, parties and good food. Only the fundamental spirit of Christmas will restore true joy to our hearts, by reminding us of our eternal destiny in Paradise, restored to us by the birth of our Savior in Bethlehem.

Let me ask you a question about the Mass?  How many readings are there at Mass?  You’ll probably answer ‘two’, the Epistle and the Gospel.  But let’s not forget there’s actually a third reading, one that is read at every Mass, and that is the Last Gospel.  This Last Gospel has been chosen by the Church, out of all the writings of Holy Scripture, to be read at almost every single Mass.  It must be pretty important then, I think we can all acknowledge.  I’ll probably have more to say about this Gospel on Christmas Day, but for now let’s take a brief look at what the Evangelist St. John the Divine has to say about his namesake, St. John the Baptist…

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.”  There were rumors, you see, that it was John the Baptist who was the Messiah, the Light of the World—hence the need to remind us that he was merely the forerunner of the Messiah.  Yes, he would make straight the way of the Lord, but as he himself acknowledged, he was nothing in comparison to the true Son of God, whose shoe’s latchet he was not worthy to unloose.  

The Last Gospel reminds us that “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”  “The world knew him not.. his own received him not.” Compare these words from the Last Gospel with the admonition of the Baptist that we read in today’s Record of John, “There standeth one among you, whom ye know not.”  The Saviour, the Word made Flesh, dwelt amongst us, and we knew him not.  It was a situation that went from bad to worse, ending up with the torture and execution of this Light of the World, and throughout history to the almost universal extinction of that Light with Vatican II.

And so back to our Christmas woes.  If we do not feel the joy of Christmas this season, could it possibly be because we do not know who is coming to dwell amongst us? Of course, I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here, and you all know, love, and serve God as you should.  But what of the rest of the world?  So many out there reject the Saviour and his message of salvation, in one way or another.  They reject him because they don’t know him.  Non-Catholics of course either blindly follow their false religions or even deliberately choose to refuse the teachings of the Catholic Church. And worse yet, more and more Catholics have never heard the true faith preached in their own churches.  Where is the Light of the World today?  Certainly not in the Church of Rome.  I just came across these words from Pope Francis, which goes a long way to explaining why the Light of the World has faded so dim: “God,” he says, “cannot be without us.  He will never be a God without man; it is He who cannot be without us.”  The world knows him not, his own receive him not…” 

But here’s the good news—the Last Gospel then continues with this consoling message: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his Name.” We, who claim to know God, if we do what that knowledge requires of us, will go on to loveGod.  Once we know him, we have no choice but to love him.  Once we’re aware of all God has done for us, how can we possibly not love him?  And how do we show our love?  Chiefly by uniting with him, by communing with him in the Blessed Sacrament.  By receiving him.

Many today still refuse him.  Many of his own receive him not.  They refuse to believe in the Real Presence and thus reject the idea they are receiving him in their Holy Communion.  Even those who do believe in the doctrine may not be receiving him because of the probable invalidity of their Masses.  But we who do believe on his Name, who receive his teachings unsullied, who receive his Body and Blood at our true apostolic Mass—to us God gives the power to become the sons and daughters of God!  And this is why we should rejoice today.  This is why we must set aside our dark moods, feelings of loss, hectic lifestyles, or whatever it is that prevents our joy from surfacing.  We have been made the children of God.  Know him and you will not walk in darkness.  Follow him and you will never lose your way.  Live according to his loving will and you will one day have true life yourselves, life everlasting.  

In just over a week from now, the Word made Flesh will dwell amongst us.  May our darkness be dispelled by his everlasting Light, and may we never again be unaware of his presence.  Rejoice, again I say rejoice!  Rejoice with the joy that comes from knowing that we have been made God’s children.