12/12/2025
The farmer waits for the rain—patient, steadfast, enduring the burning heat of the sun. He tills the soil, prepares the furrows, removes the stones, and lifts his prayer for heaven’s blessing. Saint James exhorts us to imitate this perseverance and trust, urging us to strengthen our hearts, for the Lord is near. The prophet Isaiah announces with joy the coming of the Messiah: “The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom.” This desert symbolizes the barrenness we may experience—moments of deep loneliness or spiritual dryness. A land that cannot bear fruit reflects the emptiness of a life lived without purpose, consumed by selfishness and comfort, sustained merely because the air is free. When we neglect good works, our lives resemble a field without harvest—the fruits the Lord longs to find in us. A life without fruit is squandered before God. Yet Isaiah proclaims hope: “Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak.” The Lord comes to empower us, to enter our hearts and homes, and to guide us forward as pilgrims growing in His love.
https://www.oclarim.com.mo/en/2025/12/12/3rd-sunday-of-advent-gaudete-sunday/
