On this Gaudete Sunday, the liturgy invites us to rejoice because the Lord is near. Friar Luciano Audisio, OAR, offers us a profound reflection on the Gospel: John the Baptist, from prison, sends a question that also pierces us today: “Are you the one who is to come?” Jesus’ answer—more than words—are signs of life that can transform our waiting.
Gaudete Sunday: the joy that comes from encounter
Today we celebrate Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of joy. We are halfway through Advent, and the liturgy invites us to recognize how the Lord touches our hearts and transforms our lives. It is not just a symbolic preparation for Christmas; it is a concrete experience: the Lord is coming, and his coming changes our existence.
The greatest… and yet small before the Kingdom
In today’s Gospel we hear a surprising statement from Jesus: John the Baptist is the greatest among those born of women, but “the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he”.
With these words, Jesus points out that with Him everything changes radically. Israel had reached its highest point with the figure of the Baptist, a man totally dedicated to God, illuminated by the Scriptures, guide of a spiritual movement that lived in expectation of redemption. And yet, with Jesus something absolutely new happens.
Theologically we would say that there is continuity —because John announces Jesus—, but also discontinuity —because Jesus represents an unexpected irruption, a qualitative leap that overflows all human expectation—.
John in prison: the limit of Israel and the limit of our heart
It is no coincidence that the Gospel places John at the beginning of the passage “in prison.” This location has a symbolic value: Israel had come far on its spiritual path, but was now blocked, unable to make the leap towards the newness that God wanted to realize.
The prison thus becomes the image of human limitation and the need for a greater revelation.
From prison, John sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he really is the Messiah. Some manuscripts say
John would be sending, according to the tradition of Israel, a formal testimony to confirm who Jesus is. And the question they raise is decisive:
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
The great question that also inhabits us today
The expression “the one who is to come” refers directly to God, who will come at the end of time to close history and bring about salvation.
We could paraphrase it like this:
“Are You the God of the end of time?”
It is a huge question, full of intensity. And it is also our question.
Because many times, even believing in Jesus, we expect something else.
We invent other messiahs: more spectacular, stronger, more efficient according to our criteria.
Sometimes Jesus disappoints us because he is not “a God as God commands.” And yet, in his humility, in his humanity, in his closeness, God himself is manifested.
Jesus’ answer: see and hear
Jesus’ answer is not a doctrinal definition, but an invitation to see and listen:
“Go and tell John what you are seeing and hearing.”
Jesus sends us as witnesses. We are sent to those who are still “in prison”: that of doubt, disbelief or lack of hope.
Our mission is simple and profound:
To announce what we have seen and heard, recognize the traces of God in our lives and share them.
The signs of the Messiah: a life that breaks through
Then Jesus mentions that beautiful list of works:
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the blind see,
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the lame walk,
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lepers are cleansed,
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the deaf hear,
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the dead are raised,
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and the gospel is preached to the poor.
They are signs that directly evoke the prophecies of Isaiah. But they are also a mirror for us.
Because we all have areas of blindness, paralysis, deafness; we all carry within us some wound that needs purification; we all know experiences of death; and we are all poor —poor in spirit, in need of a word of life—.
This list follows a crescendo that culminates in the resurrection, reminding us that in Christ our own resurrection has already begun.
And it concludes with the mission: “the gospel is preached to the poor”.
What we have seen and heard must become announcement.
Blessed is he who is not scandalized
That is why Jesus adds:
“Blessed is the one who is not scandalized by me.”
Blessed is he who welcomes the concrete way in which God manifests himself in Jesus, even if it does not coincide with our expectations.
What did you go out to see? The authenticity of John
As the disciples walk away, Jesus reflects on John and asks:
“What did you go out to see in the desert?”
He uses the verb of the exodus:
“Why did they undertake an exodus? What did they expect to find? A reed shaken by the wind? A man in fine clothes?”
John is none of that.
He is not a man influenced by the currents of the moment, nor a seeker of privileges.
He is a prophet, and more than a prophet.
His life calls us to authenticity:
not to follow those who change according to the wind,
not to seek luxury or power,
but to listen to those who faithfully proclaim the Word of God.
The joy of Gaudete: God is already at work
On this Gaudete Sunday, the joy we celebrate is not superficial.
It is the joy of discovering that God is already at work in our lives.
The joy of seeing and hearing the signs of his presence.
The joy of knowing that Jesus is “the one who is to come”, the one who fulfills the promises, the one who raises us and sends us.
May we, like John, know how to recognize him.
And may we, like the disciples sent, know how to announce him.
