(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: https://brothersinchristcmf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Mass-Blog-for-the-Third-Sunday-of-Advent-2025.mp3)
Many nonbelievers consider themselves free. But in this modern world of war and division, freedom without faith quickly descends into chaos. That’s why St. John Paul II taught that only faith can set someone free. Without it, those who believe only in the seeables and hearables of this world are prisoners of their eyes and ears. Because we all perceive such truths differently, chaos soon becomes our reality.
So consider John the Baptist as depicted in this Sunday’s gospel reading (Matthew 11:2-11). He’s in a prison cell, cut off from the outside world—a world in which the Savior whose coming he proclaimed is apparently working miracles for believers. But in the darkness and silence of his solitary confinement, John himself seems to be having a faith crisis. So he sends his disciples to Jesus, asking:
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”
Our second reading from James (said to be the half-brother of Jesus), was written after Jesus rose from the dead. This late-coming apostle is trying to keep faith alive for souls feeling as confined as John the Baptist was. They all expected the Kingdom to come with Christ’s first arrival. They didn’t want to wait for a second.
“Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord,” James suggests. … “Take as an example of hardship and patience the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.” (James 5:7-10)
In answering John the Baptist’s question about who he was, that Lord echoed the prophecy of the man who saw him coming seven centuries before (Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10). His prophecies strengthened Jesus, and they still strengthen believers in Jesus 20 centuries later, as the author of this Sunday’s first reading intended:
“Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing.”
We all remain blind, deaf, mute and lame if we let the chaos of our conflicting freedoms overpower our faith. As Jesus told many of the people he cured, it was their faith that saved them.
In his book Memory and Identity, then Pope John Paul II equated the attack of totalitarian leaders on faith-born freedom with the threat of a chaotic hell on earth. This from a man whose faith survived the attacks of both Nazi and Communist leaders in his beloved Poland.
When exposed to our faith illuminated by Christ’s first coming, sorrow and mourning flee, freeing up room in our soul for his second coming. But as long as we continue believing that the freedom coming from our faith is truth, Jesus already abides there.
–Tom Andel
What stands out to me is that John doesn’t hide his doubt—he brings it directly to Jesus. And Jesus doesn’t respond with a theory; He points to lives transformed. That same truth holds for us today. With faith, even a prison cell can become a place of clarity, purpose, and hope. Christ holds the key to our freedom, it is ours to accept—offered freely, but only received when we ask for it.
George, the older I get, and the less time I’ll be spending in this prison of a planet, the more I realize that what’s truly important about my jail sentence is how it shaped my eternal soul. Christ holds the key to our freedom. John the Baptist eventually realized this, which is why he didn’t fear anything Herod could do to him.
Thank you Tom! I think of how John the Baptist’s question from his cell reminds me how easily confusion and doubt arise when I rely on what I can see and the limits of the world that surrounds me. But Jesus’ answer pointing to transformed lives is as true today as then. True freedom is found only in Him. We are not called to rely on our own understanding, that is a trap. It is my faith that keeps me steady when the world feels chaotic. The freedom that Christ provides is the only way to truly free our hearts in a way that the world just cannot provide despite all its mirages and lies otherwise.
Right on, Mike. Relying on our own understanding IS a trap, and even John the Baptist fell into it. In Christ He was expecting a conquering hero, vanquishing enemies and freeing innocents. What we should be asking is, what does God expect from me? Am I the person he created me to be, or am I playing a role to please my earthly jailers? We need to learn what the Baptist realized: No jail cell on earth can imprison me if I surrender to God’s great expectations.
I have seen people writing JMJ (Jesus Mary Joseph) on paper or even on a chalk board if they are a Catholic school teacher. Obviously, nothing is more powerful than the hope and trust that we find through the love and care of the Holy Family. However, I have considered the idea of writing V.I.A. perhaps in letters or emails that I write to people. V.I.A. stands for “Victory is Assured” and is intended to be a constant reminder that Jesus Chris has already conquered the world for us. We do not have to worry about corruption in our government or the ways in which greedy tech companies are shoving A.I. down our throats. No matter how rough things get, we just need to keep our eyes on Jesus and trust in His words.
Christ’s victory IS assured. Problem is, so many of us join the losing side. Artificial intelligence can never replace the genuine wisdom of Jesus, and it’s readily available via in-person prayer and worship. We just need to make and take the time.
Saint JPII’s words hit at the core of all of our living and being as humans navigating an at times incredibly difficult pathway.
Many of us, myself included, allow forces in the world and our lives to dictate how we live and interact. Our priorities become so convoluted it is nearly impossible to sit back and see the situation for what it is. As the old Baltimore Catechism says: We are here to know, love, and serve God, and to be happy with him forever in heaven.
Who gets up in the morning with that as their main consideration for the day?
Whether we’re young or old, it’s amazing how quickly time passes. The only difference between age groups is how we choose to fill our precious time slots. That decision is more important than budgeting money. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer of us assign prayer to our bottom line. While the world dictates its own value system to us, it’s vital that we tune it out and observe our own sabbath with God.