Dear Parishioner,

John the Baptist, in his dark dungeon, is puzzled.   He has always been very clear about his calling… to be the one who prepares the way of the Messiah… the voice crying out in the wilderness “Make straight his paths.”   Time to get ready!  “Repent!”   Hundreds of people had come to listen, had repented, been baptised.  Was his mission fulfilled?  

He knew it was very likely that he would soon die.  Yet where was the Messiah??   Was Jesus the one?  The people were flocking to him, it is true, but John was troubled.  He did not seem to fit the profile of the Messiah as he had imagined him to be. So, he sends his disciples with a question: “Are you the one who is to come… Or do we wait for someone else?” Jesus doesn’t answer him directly but tells him what he’s doing and John must have recognised the words of the prophet Isaiah “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk and the deaf hear… and the poor have the Good News preached to them!” 

Jesus describes to John what he is doing – Without doubt he is the One whose coming John was preparing for but whereas John preached repentance, Jesus, who is himself the Good News, revealed a God of Love, of Mercy and Compassion.  

In our Gospels we discover Jesus, God made visible, reaching out especially to the poor, the sick and sinners, embracing them tenderly with love and rejoicing. Think of the lost sheep, the “woman who was a sinner”, Zaccheus the tax collector, the Prodigal Son. 

We call this Sunday “Laetare Sunday”, and our Mass today begins with the word “Rejoice!”  As we move towards the Celebration of the Word of God, made flesh, Saint James reminds us to be patient. The time is near! 

Sr. Marie McDonald