3rd Sunday Advent Rejoice
Joy to the World; Rejoice the King who gives joy is coming
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
The 3rd Sunday of Advent is called “Gaudete Sunday.” Gaudete is Latin for “rejoice.” If we count our blessings we shall be happier in this world - we shall have no anxiety about anything. But the sad thing is that, rather than counting our blessings, we tend to be anxious if not miserable. All our worldly wealth, all our sophistication seems to have brought us nothing but anxiety.Do not be anxious, says St Paul. Do not be anxious about tomorrow, tomorrow will look after itself, Jesus tells us. It is folly to worry. Why? First, it's not as if our worry can do any good. None of our worry will make a little of difference to what actually happens. It's all wasted energy. Second, what a release it would be not to have to worry: we should be set free to enjoy the present, to enjoy what the spiritual experts call the sacrament of the present moment.
When you hear St. Paul saying to the Philippians, ‘Brothers and Sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always,’ do you think, ‘Well that sounds good, but it isn’t very realistic? How about the time when my car breaks down, my roof is leaking and I’m overdrawn at the bank?’ Today we are told that “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”Phili.4:4)
Joy! How often do you experience ‘joy’? I’m not talking about feeling good, when everything is going right, the kids are behaving, the kitchen is clean, we’re having a night off and a vacation is in sight. No, joy is a gift from the Spirit of God that enables to believe and know and yes, even feel that even when circumstances are not going well, either inside of me or outside of me, that all will be well. Joy is different than a grin (a broad smile usually showing the teeth) or a feeling. It is a deep gift, a conviction, but something we know inside of us that God is in control; it all doesn’t depend on me. It is not quite the same as peace, for it is names as a unique gift, but it is close to peace. It must be a sister to peace.
This may sound obvious, but it really is the key. There is no joy or real rejoicing apart from being ‘in the Lord’ and it is ‘in the Lord’ that we are given a share of God’s own joy. More specifically, joy comes from the Spirit of God. In another place in Scripture Paul speaks of joy in Galatians, Chapter five, which bears reading in its entirety, vv. 22 and following, ‘…the fruit of the spirit is love, JOY, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.’
There it is, our ‘joy,’ nestled among love, peace and the other gifts of the Spirit. If joy is a fruit then it must be connected to the tree that bears it and this tree is the life and risen humanity of Christ himself who gave himself in love for us in the midst of the most unspeakable suffering and injustice.
Then what we must do to access this joy in the Spirit, is to be with the Spirit in prayer. We must take the time to immerse ourselves in prayer to have joy and to sustain it. We must soak ourselves in prayer, be with, stay with the Spirit and ask for this gift, especially when times are stressful and we are bearing great suffering. There will always be some resistance to prayer, especially at times of sorrow and stress; there is a temptation to abandon prayer and to think that it is hopeless and futile. God has abandoned us. The truth is the opposite. At these times all the more must we take the time, make the time for prayer. The Spirit of Jesus will not disappoint you, but will tell you only to ‘come back tomorrow for more.’
One of the things we tend to do in the modern world is to equate joy with happiness. However, they are not the same thing. Happiness is based on our circumstances while joy is based on our relationship to God. Joy becomes a part of our nature just as swimming is part of the nature of being a fish.
Joy is a choice that we make for ourselves. We can choose to look at the negative side of things or focus on our unhappy circumstances or we can grow stronger by focusing on the work that God is doing in our lives:
How do we do that? Well, that is rather easy to explain but pretty hard to practice, so I'll explain. Look at the word JOY. You see that it is made up of three letters: first J, then O, and lastly Y. J stands for Jesus, O for Others, and Y for You. Joy therefore is: Jesus, Others, before You. To know joy in our lives we need to place Jesus first in everything. Secondly, we need to try to please others before trying to please you. Jesus is first and he gives you the joy of His Spirit and your joy will radiate to others as you put them before yourself, because selfishness diminishes joy. That is the recipe for joy. That is how we can convert the Christmas "joy to the world" into a personal "joy in my life" now and always.
You will discover that those who practice J-O-Y are the ones who enjoy peace and joy, and that those who practice "self first" are always the unhappy and miserable ones.
In the Gospel today we are challenged by John the Baptist to go about our daily work in an honest and generous way. John gives us some short-cuts to receive joy. “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.”
The command to rejoice, like every other command, is demanding. As we sing in the Lord of the Dance, “It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back.” Author Leo Buscaglia tells a story about his mother which shows that it takes a lot of faith to rejoice. His father came back from work one day and announced that he had lost all his money because his business partner had duped him and ran away with their firm's funds. That same evening, his mother went out, sold some of her expensive jewelry, and bought food for a sumptuous feast. People criticized her for reckless spending at a time when poverty was staring her in the face. But she told them that "the time for joy is now, when we need it most, not next week." Her courageous act rallied the family and gave them the hope they needed to face the future with confidence and trust that God was in control.
The life of holiness to which Paul invites us this Advent is the life of God in us. It is God in us who makes it happen. Our part is mainly to say yes to God, to surrender totally to Him. It is hard for us to live a life of rejoicing always, but the One who calls us to this life is one who always gives us what He commands. He is faithful, and He will keep His promises. God will provide and we are well protected in His hands. He is in Control so Let us rejoice.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
The 3rd Sunday of Advent is called “Gaudete Sunday.” Gaudete is Latin for “rejoice.” If we count our blessings we shall be happier in this world - we shall have no anxiety about anything. But the sad thing is that, rather than counting our blessings, we tend to be anxious if not miserable. All our worldly wealth, all our sophistication seems to have brought us nothing but anxiety.Do not be anxious, says St Paul. Do not be anxious about tomorrow, tomorrow will look after itself, Jesus tells us. It is folly to worry. Why? First, it's not as if our worry can do any good. None of our worry will make a little of difference to what actually happens. It's all wasted energy. Second, what a release it would be not to have to worry: we should be set free to enjoy the present, to enjoy what the spiritual experts call the sacrament of the present moment.
When you hear St. Paul saying to the Philippians, ‘Brothers and Sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always,’ do you think, ‘Well that sounds good, but it isn’t very realistic? How about the time when my car breaks down, my roof is leaking and I’m overdrawn at the bank?’ Today we are told that “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”Phili.4:4)
Joy! How often do you experience ‘joy’? I’m not talking about feeling good, when everything is going right, the kids are behaving, the kitchen is clean, we’re having a night off and a vacation is in sight. No, joy is a gift from the Spirit of God that enables to believe and know and yes, even feel that even when circumstances are not going well, either inside of me or outside of me, that all will be well. Joy is different than a grin (a broad smile usually showing the teeth) or a feeling. It is a deep gift, a conviction, but something we know inside of us that God is in control; it all doesn’t depend on me. It is not quite the same as peace, for it is names as a unique gift, but it is close to peace. It must be a sister to peace.
This may sound obvious, but it really is the key. There is no joy or real rejoicing apart from being ‘in the Lord’ and it is ‘in the Lord’ that we are given a share of God’s own joy. More specifically, joy comes from the Spirit of God. In another place in Scripture Paul speaks of joy in Galatians, Chapter five, which bears reading in its entirety, vv. 22 and following, ‘…the fruit of the spirit is love, JOY, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.’
There it is, our ‘joy,’ nestled among love, peace and the other gifts of the Spirit. If joy is a fruit then it must be connected to the tree that bears it and this tree is the life and risen humanity of Christ himself who gave himself in love for us in the midst of the most unspeakable suffering and injustice.
Then what we must do to access this joy in the Spirit, is to be with the Spirit in prayer. We must take the time to immerse ourselves in prayer to have joy and to sustain it. We must soak ourselves in prayer, be with, stay with the Spirit and ask for this gift, especially when times are stressful and we are bearing great suffering. There will always be some resistance to prayer, especially at times of sorrow and stress; there is a temptation to abandon prayer and to think that it is hopeless and futile. God has abandoned us. The truth is the opposite. At these times all the more must we take the time, make the time for prayer. The Spirit of Jesus will not disappoint you, but will tell you only to ‘come back tomorrow for more.’
One of the things we tend to do in the modern world is to equate joy with happiness. However, they are not the same thing. Happiness is based on our circumstances while joy is based on our relationship to God. Joy becomes a part of our nature just as swimming is part of the nature of being a fish.
Joy is a choice that we make for ourselves. We can choose to look at the negative side of things or focus on our unhappy circumstances or we can grow stronger by focusing on the work that God is doing in our lives:
How do we do that? Well, that is rather easy to explain but pretty hard to practice, so I'll explain. Look at the word JOY. You see that it is made up of three letters: first J, then O, and lastly Y. J stands for Jesus, O for Others, and Y for You. Joy therefore is: Jesus, Others, before You. To know joy in our lives we need to place Jesus first in everything. Secondly, we need to try to please others before trying to please you. Jesus is first and he gives you the joy of His Spirit and your joy will radiate to others as you put them before yourself, because selfishness diminishes joy. That is the recipe for joy. That is how we can convert the Christmas "joy to the world" into a personal "joy in my life" now and always.
You will discover that those who practice J-O-Y are the ones who enjoy peace and joy, and that those who practice "self first" are always the unhappy and miserable ones.
In the Gospel today we are challenged by John the Baptist to go about our daily work in an honest and generous way. John gives us some short-cuts to receive joy. “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.”
The command to rejoice, like every other command, is demanding. As we sing in the Lord of the Dance, “It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back.” Author Leo Buscaglia tells a story about his mother which shows that it takes a lot of faith to rejoice. His father came back from work one day and announced that he had lost all his money because his business partner had duped him and ran away with their firm's funds. That same evening, his mother went out, sold some of her expensive jewelry, and bought food for a sumptuous feast. People criticized her for reckless spending at a time when poverty was staring her in the face. But she told them that "the time for joy is now, when we need it most, not next week." Her courageous act rallied the family and gave them the hope they needed to face the future with confidence and trust that God was in control.
The life of holiness to which Paul invites us this Advent is the life of God in us. It is God in us who makes it happen. Our part is mainly to say yes to God, to surrender totally to Him. It is hard for us to live a life of rejoicing always, but the One who calls us to this life is one who always gives us what He commands. He is faithful, and He will keep His promises. God will provide and we are well protected in His hands. He is in Control so Let us rejoice.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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