Is 61:1-2a, 10-11 | Ps Lk 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54 | 1 Thes 5:16-24 | Jn 1:6-8, 19-28
One generation ago, South Africa overcame its darkest hour, emerging from a tunnel of darkness and ignorance generated by a social and racial system of segregation called apartheid. Advertised as a means of “separate development” for the white and black populations, apartheid did not allow 77 percent of the nation’s people, namely its black citizens, to participate in the government.
Hope, however, was on the horizon in the person of a white politician, F. W. de Klerk, who became president of South Africa in 1900. Believing that the apartheid system was inhumane, de Klerk took steps to dismantle it. He needed help, however, and found it in Nelson Mandela, a black man who in 1964, had been convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to life in prison. Despite his incarceration, Mandela kept the flame of faith alive, and it began to glow in February 1990, when de Klerk ordered Mandela’s release.
The two men negotiated a settlement between the National Party and the African National Congress, leading to a new constitution and the transition of power to a democratic government. In 1993, de Klerk and Mandela shared the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. The next year, Nelson Mandela was elected the first black president of South Africa. The light began to shine!
On this Third Sunday of Advent, our readings clearly tell us that it is time to rejoice; the light is near. The prophet Isaiah writes to the Hebrew people returning from the darkness of the Babylonian captivity. He tells them it is a new day; it is time to rejoice. God will bring justice; God will bring liberty to captives and give release to prisoners. God will heal the brokenhearted. Like Isaiah prophesied, we must rejoice, the Light, Jesus, is nearby. For the past two weeks, the gospel has stressed the need to prepare for the Lord. Today, we hear that the Light is near—make a straight path, for Jesus is coming. It is time to rejoice. It is time to cast off deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Jesus, the Light, comes to dispel the darkness.
All of us pass through various dark nights during our journey through life. As we experience these difficult challenges, we must constantly seek the light. But we know that the light is only found at the end of a tunnel. We must, therefore, persevere to find the light.
What dark nights have you recently experienced? For some, the dark night comes in loneliness. At times we think that nobody cares, not even God. For others, the dark night is experienced through illness, be it our own sickness or that of a family member or loved one. At times the tunnel begins to cave in when that illness leads to death. There are times that the darkness is experienced through the loss of job or underemployment. The dark night for some is a loss of faith. We perceive the absence of God and wonder why God has abandoned us and doesn’t answer our prayers as we think God should.
To successfully traverse these dark nights, we must continually seek the light. Advent is a time when we take a journey from the darkness, which is the absence of God, to the birth of the light. Today’s readings tell us to have confidence that whatever envelopes us in darkness: be it loneliness, sickness, death, loss of employment, or problems with faith, they can all be dispelled by the coming of the Light, Jesus.
South Africa’s dark night was dispelled through the faith of two very different men, one a brave black freedom fighter, the other a courageous white politician. As we continue our Advent journey, let us cast off darkness and seek the light. It is time to rejoice; the Lord is near. Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!