Third Sunday of Advent—James 5:7-10

This week’s second reading makes two references to the coming of the Lord. The word “coming” in James’ original Greek is parousia, an important term for the Early Church meaning “coming” or “presence.” It has a very similar meaning to the Latin-based “Advent,” meaning “coming” or “arrival.” In this particular reading at this particular time of year, the Holy Spirit is giving us a wide-ranging play on words.

On this Third Sunday of Parousia (Advent), James’ words encourage us to be patient as we await the Parousia (coming) of the Lord. His Parousia (presence) is close at hand. In fact, it’s closer than you might think. At Mass this week, you probably received Jesus, truly Parousia (present) in the Eucharist, and now Jesus is Parousia (present) within you. This whole season of Parousia (Advent) invites us to reflect on the ways in which the Lord is Parousia (present) to us already and the ways in which he is Parousia (coming) to us anew. It is an invitation to look forward to Jesus’ final Parousia (coming) as Judge at the end of time even as we remember his first Parousia (arrival) in history. Just as the prophets and patriarchs of old had to make their hearts firm and be patient, so the Holy Spirit invites us to do the same.

Our reading ends after James 5:10 by inviting us to consider the patient endurance of the prophets. In the very next verse, James 5:11 specifically points out the example of Job. You’ll recall that Job was faithful to God and yet he lost all his possessions, all his children, his health, and even his wife and three friends turned on him. Amid all this turmoil, Job utters a plain and simple, though difficult truth: “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!” (Job 1:21). Job was patiently waiting on the Lord through very difficult circumstances, and yet he was able to see God’s presence (Parousia) in the midst of it.

It’s not easy to wait on the Lord. It’s not easy to be patient when things don’t go as planned at work or at school, in your personal life or in your finances, in our parish or in our diocese. Many of us are people of action, and so patiently waiting for the Lord’s Parousia is difficult. Even if you have experienced a wonderful and blessed year, there certainly were parts of the year that didn’t go as planned, that leav you wondering where God is. As James encourages us to look to the example of the prophets, I am reminded of the Prophet Habakkuk. At a time when Jerusalem was falling apart spiritually and God had promised that soon he would come (Parousia) and destroy the city through the king of Babylon, Habakkuk’s response was to complain to the LORD to explain himself and then to wait patiently, perhaps even stubbornly, for a response (see Habakkuk 2:1).

As Advent nears its end, let us wait for the Lord who is Parousia, who is presence, who is coming, and who is here.