December 14, 2025
Matthew 11: 2-11
Today Advent hope breaks into joy. The opening words of the Mass invite us to Rejoice in the Lord Always [for] ‘the Lord is near’.
In today’s first reading the prophet Isaiah addresses the Israelites in a dark period of their history and he describes an unimaginable transformation of their situation which will be brought about by God [who] ‘comes to save you’. He calls for confidence in God’s transforming action which will bring wholeness to the people so that the lame will walk, the blind will see etc. Likewise, the apostle James addresses Christians who are possibly despondent at the delayed second coming of Christ. Like Isaiah, James encourages the people to have faith in this coming and, in the meantime, to prepare for it with patience and by living as Jesus taught them.
All of this comes together in the Gospel. From his prison cell, John the Baptist hears that Jesus is proclaiming the Kingdom of God in a way quite different from his own: he is doing what Isaiah foretold – healing the sick, embracing the outcast etc. So, John sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the one they are waiting for. Jesus doesn’t answer the question directly but instructs John’s followers to tell him what they hear and see: he’s doing exactly what Isaiah foretold. The Baptist recognises God’s active presence in Jesus.
Jesus turns his attention to the crowd and exalts the Baptist above the people’s expectations. Clearly they thought very highly of the Baptist, despite his eccentricities and his ‘threatening’ preaching style. Otherwise, they would not have gone to the desert to listen to him and respond to his message. Jesus affirmed their opinion of the Baptist as a fresh prophetic voice – but as more than that: he was God’s authorised messenger called and sent to prepare the way for Jesus. Hence Jesus identifies him as the greatest person ever born. But then he utters something strange. He says, ‘Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.’ What could he mean?
The Baptist and the people knew God’s love from the people’s story as recorded in their Scriptures, pronounced, explained and pondered in their synagogues, and celebrated in their liturgical feasts, particularly Passover. But they didn’t know the full extent of God’s love, because that had yet to be revealed in the death of Jesus, an expression of God’s ultimate love for his people, love unto death. This would be the privileged experience of the least in the kingdom of heaven – to know the fullness of God’s love. This is our privileged experience, and it entitles us to be considered greater than John the Baptist. Is it any wonder that we are called to rejoice!
Such a privilege, however, is not a cause for complacent joy. Rather it evokes an active joy expressed in being the fullness of God’s love for those we encounter in the circumstances of our lives. As Jesus commanded at the Last Supper, ‘I give you a new commandment: love one another; just as I have loved you, you also must love one another’ (Jn.13: 34). So, we wait in hope and expectation and our waiting is grateful and active: we sow seeds of the kingdom of love as we wait.
Reflection:
- When and how has God shared his transforming love with me?
- How is God inviting me to share his transforming love with those in dark situations?
Matthew 11: 2-11
When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”
Jesus said to them in reply, “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. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “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. Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 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. 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.”
The Gospel of the Lord
Meet Sister Eileen Cassidy, SNDdeN
