Reflection for Sunday – December 14, 2025

Deirdre McKiernan HetzlerSunday Readings Homilies

Readings: Isaiah 35:1-6a.,10; James 5:7-10; Mattthew 11:2-11 
Preacher: Deirdre McKiernan Hetzler

Rejoice! The desert and parched land will exult! . Vegetation will burst into bloom! Advent readings on this third Sunday of are so full of joy and hope, aren’t they? Because our God is coming to save us! In fact (Scripture tells us elsewhere ), our God is already in our midst! Do you not perceive it?

Advent. A season of threefold waiting. Yes, of course, we anticipate celebrating the anniversary of Jesus’ birth. But more than that! Last week, John the Baptist urged us: Be aware! Aware of the many ways God comes to us. Blesses us. And be prepared. We know, too, that Jesus will come again…at the end of our lives… at the end of time. Advent asks–will we be prepared to meet Him?

Have you ever noticed how Jesus comes to us through others? Through the events and circumstances of our lives? I was struck by God’s presence in others recently. As I trudged through a slippery parking lot taking packages to UPS. A woman leaving turned, instead, to help me. Carried the packages from my car. And afterwards, the clerk insisted on escorting me safely back.

God’s presence was visible again that very evening. As a group of folks and community leaders protested. Demanding the release from ICE of a local entrepreneur. The man has lived and been a leader in the community for decades. Pursuing an asylum claim, he checked in regularly. Told that the new app he needed could only be done in person, ICE agents directed him to report to the Buffalo office. And he was immediately seized and placed in detention.

In the face of the flood of daily news, it may be hard to believe that God is in our midst. Society is polarized. Fragmented. By poverty. Demonization of the “other.” Destruction of the social safety net. Cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants— which even the conservative US Catholic Bishops have criticized heartily.

But God sees us in our distress. And God will come. To show us a better way. God, whose love for each and every one of us is both wide and deep, will come. As our psalm reminds us, “the Lord God keeps faith forever.”

Isaiah’s joyful vision came to Israelites who were still enslaved in Babylon. They had suffered through decades of exile. Their spirit and their strength sapped by the years of bondage. So, in beautiful poetic language, the prophet offers them hope of a new day. The loveliness of creation reaching its fullness! A world charged with the grandeur of God! He then draws their attention to their one source of strength and salvation: Isaiah promised them that they will see the glory of the Lord. The splendor of our God. The same vision comes to us in the midst of our own chaos. Isaiah calls on them —and us —to “Strengthen feeble hands. Make weak knees firm. “Be strong, fear not! Here is your God!” He comes to save you!

Many in Israel, perhaps even John the Baptist, expected a very different savior/Messiah. One coming with fire and brimstone. A winnowing fork in hand. Bringing judgment. Not one who comes with mercy, forgiveness, and healing. So John sends messengers to check this out. But Jesus responds: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news brought to them. Wholeness. Liberation! Shalom! Humanity fully alive and thriving! Every single human being valued. Signs of the Kingdom of God. And blessed is anyone who doesn’t take offense.

In response to John’s query, Jesus describes his ministry. This transformation he accomplished is our work, too. To build the reign of God in our world. Could that be what Jesus meant when he said that the least in the Kingdom is greater than John? Blessed is anyone not scandalized in us. 

Deirdre McKiernan Hetzler
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