The following is a reflection Sr. Janet Peterworth, OSU, gave at St. William Church on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, the third Sunday of Advent: 

I saw it. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw the desert bloom. It was May 1987, and I was standing in the Nevada desert – actually at the gates of the Nevada Test Site – with a group of about 200 from Pax Christi. And I saw the desert bloom that morning just as the sun broke the horizon. We came from four foreign countries and 27 states, and we came to say, “No more testing.” “No more war!” And I felt I was in the middle of Isaiah’s words, “The desert will bloom with abundant flowers and break forth with joyful song.”

It has been almost 40 years since I saw that desert bloom and I shall never forget it. (Just an FYI, the Nevada Test Site was closed in 1992 but there are rumblings that the present administration would like to see it open again.) But no matter, I know that desert will still bloom at that site.

I’m sure you know it is on this third Sunday of Advent that the excitement grows for the inbreaking of God into the human condition. The Church is excited, children are excited, the city seems excited, and in the middle of all this excitement, Paul is saying, “be patient, be like the farmer who waits for the rain and then the first shoot to break through. Don’t be grumbling, don’t be judging others, just be cool and wait.”

The readings today are soaked in longing. They speak to a people who wait, who wonder, who may ache and who may doubt. A few weeks ago, Jack Jazreel named his Sunday Chaos Sunday. I think I would name this Sunday “Waiting Sunday.” Not passive waiting. Not hopeless waiting. But waiting as people who believe something is happening, even if they cannot yet see it. To repeat Jack’s line, we are a people who believe “The day is coming.”

And yet, in the depths of our being we may doubt—we might whisper it, but we would not say it out loud. But we might doubt. Remember John, Jesus’ cousin? Remember John who leapt in his mother’s womb when he came into contact with Jesus? Remember John who knew Jesus early on when they met at the Jordan? Remember John who is now in prison? He sent others to ask a question for him. “Are you the one who is to come? Or shall we look for another?” You would think John would know better!

Was this a question from an evil spirit….a question asked in doubt? Maybe, but as Thomas Merton said many years later, “We too often forget that faith is a matter of questioning and struggle before it becomes one of certitude and peace.” Jesus does not shame John, He simply gives him a new way of looking at things:

Look at the signs of life.
Look at what is healing.
Look at what is being restored,
Even if it’s not happening the way you expected. So, hear Jesus inviting not only John but us, to recognize God’s presence in subtle, quiet, unexpected places.

Today we lit the rose candle. We can see that small flame of joy. It is a reminder that in the midst of the world’s shadows, in the midst of doubt there is joy. Joy that says: God is still coming. God is still healing. God is still faithful. Joy that says: I may be waiting, but I am not abandoned. Joy that says: Even in the desert, something is beginning to bloom.

So, today’s readings call us to take courage, not to fear. They call us to hold fast, and not lose heart. They call us to look for the small signs. They tell us to know that the Holy One is near. On this waiting Sunday – this Sunday that has grown out of Chaos Sunday–remember joy comes not because life is easy, but because God is faithful.

As I was poking about on the internet getting ready for today’s homily, I found this simple Advent prayer:

Jesus, strengthen us in the waiting.
Jesus, help us see the signs of Your presence.
Jesus, let Your joy bloom in the deserts of our lives.
Gaudete—Rejoice!
For our God is close at hand.