The third Sunday of Advent is often referred to as "Gaudate Sunday." "Gaudate" is the Latin word for "rejoice." It denotes that Christmas Day is just around the corner. We are closer to Christmas than we are to the beginning of the Season of Advent.



So they ask him if he is Elijah.
"No", he responds.
"Are you one of the prophets," they ask.
"No", he responds once more.
"Then who are you?" they ask.
He speaks the prophecy from the Prophet Isaiah.
"I am the voice of the one crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord", he tells everyone around him.
John testified to the Light of the World. There is much darkness in the world sometimes. But like a singular candle flame that burns amid the darkness, all eyes are drawn towards it. It sticks out.