Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for the third Sunday of Advent, Year A
Readings: Isaiah 35:1-6; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11
The Samoan Patron, The Immaculate Conception
Dear brothers and sisters,
We gather to celebrate the Mass of the Immaculate Conception which is your patronal feast, both at home in Samoa and those like you in the Diaspora. The French Marist Missionaries shared this devotion with your ancestors ever since the first day the Gospel was preached in your motherland. You may be a small island in the vast Pacific Ocean, but the Catholic faith is lived with great intensity and vibrancy.
Samoan Catholicism is characterised by its deep roots in tradition, vibrant cultural expression, and strong community focus, demonstrating how faith and cultural identity can thrive together.
In Australia, you have brought your Catholic heritage and faith to enrich the life of the Church in this multicultural society. The Diocese of Parramatta where there is a significant Samoan population is indebted to you for the way you enliven us with your contribution to parish life and your passion for the faith which is as strong as your passion for football.
Today, we have come to draw inspiration and strength from our Immaculate Mother. We honour Mary not only as the mother of Jesus but even more so as an exemplar of Christian discipleship. She became a model disciple who followed her Son faithfully. Therefore, this celebration commits us to follow her example and become the community of disciples.
Scriptures this Sunday provide us with a valuable lesson of finding hope in despair, discovering strength in vulnerability and discerning God’s way in the unexpected. We are called to follow the example of the faithful remnants, or in biblical terms, the anawim, of whom Mary was one.
In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah speaks to his people during one of the darkest times of their collective history. He reframes their hopelessness with a vision of rebirth. He reassures them that the Anointed of God would heal the broken-hearted, comfort the sorrowful and free the captives. But far from making Israel great again as in the days of their warrior-kings, Isaiah speaks of building a new society rooted in justice, compassion for the weak and care for the vulnerable.
The messianic age will be fulfilled with the eyes of the blind opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, the lame walk and the ransomed return. This attention to the socially expendable was no small detail. It was the litmus test of Israel’s fidelity to God’s command. Just as God had cared for them when they were slaves and foreigners in Egypt, they ought to create a kinder and gentler society. Isaiah opens the eyes of the exiles to see that the purpose of the captivity was to refashion them into a true people of the Covenant. Empowering the powerless rather than scapegoating the unworthy is the hallmark of the Covenant community.
The Gospel also speaks of the ministry of Jesus to the vulnerable. To begin with, we are told that John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus and asked him if he was the Messiah. John had told people the axe was lying at the root, ready to chop down the unworthy trees. He had promised the chaff would burn with unquenchable fire. But Jesus didn’t seem to be doing much slashing and burning. Instead, he was performing the messianic deeds that Isaiah foretold and Jesus himself reiterated at his first public appearance. By referencing his ministry to the downtrodden, Jesus reassures John that he indeed is the Messiah and that the messianic mission is accomplished not by power and dominance but by giving of ourselves to the least.
My dear friends,
Like the Jewish people in exile we are unable to see what lies beyond the horizons. We might be like John who had doubts about the coming of the Messiah even though he had risked everything for it.
What the Word of God tells us today is summarised in St James’ words “Do not lose heart”. Instead, we must persevere in humble and faithful discipleship, one that Mary exemplified.
The Church in Australia is very blessed with your strong faith and devotion. You contribute to its richness, vitality and diversity in so many ways. In celebrating this feast day, let us recommit ourselves to the task of nurturing and deepening our precious spiritual legacy. As we face the new and spiritually challenging environment, may our commitment not waver but grow stronger for the benefit of ourselves and our children.
May Mary our Mother who is the humble handmaid of the Lord intercede for us and the Samoan Catholics everywhere to distinguish ourselves for our strong and enduring faith. Let us live our call to be the faithful remnants of God in the midst of an increasing secular environment. May Advent and the expectation of God’s fulfilment nurture our sense of vulnerable trust and spur us into action, knowing that our discipleship cannot be other than making Christ’ messianic agenda our own.
