Third Sunday of Advent – Gaudete Sunday – Year B – December 13, 2020 Joy: Rejoicing to find that Christ and his mercy are never far from us! Readings: Isaiah 61: 1-2a, 10-11 / Responsorial psalm: Luke 1: 46-50, 53-54 / 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24 / John 1: 6-8, 19-28
Every time I went to purchase supplies for my local Dominican community in New Orleans, St. Anthony of Padua Priory, I looked forward to meeting one of the employees in charge of customer service upon leaving the store. Her name was Joy and she was always eager to introduce herself and stress that her name, J-O-Y, signified, “Jesus, Others and Yourself.” Even if I had been carrying a lot of worries in my mind, Joy always managed to turn my heart in thanksgiving to our Merciful Lord. Thankfully, she knew her name well and made sure we knew it, too. I have often thought, “Isn’t it something that oftentimes we have to be reminded to be joyful. It might not always come naturally to us to think of Jesus and others. Not only that, but even our thinking of ourselves might not be the best thoughts for us in terms of our own well-being. Today, which is the third Sunday of Advent, we celebrate “Gaudete,” or Rejoice, Sunday. If the Church specifically sets aside a Sunday for rejoicing, does it mean we are neglecting to rejoice on other days and throughout the year? I hope not, but sometimes I wonder. Am I, are we, rejoicing enough? Are we grateful to Jesus and others? Do we understand when Jesus commands us to love even ourselves? What brings us joy? Very often, what makes me glad is when things “work out” and come together. That’s nice, but I run the risk of externalizing joy and making it conditional on things and happenings outside of me. I realize that Gaudete has much more significance. The Church sets Gaudete Sunday in our liturgical calendar because joy needs to be both spontaneous and formalized and scheduled. We must recognize that there are many obstacles to rejoicing, many of which exist within us, and clearly resist them as a community, even as part of our worship. In the Gospel reading the priests, Levites and Pharisees come to John the Baptist to see if he was the “one,” the messiah who was to come. They asked him, “Who are you?” “Are you the prophet?” John the Baptist tells them, “I am not the Christ.” I imagine the religious leaders were let down and returned to Jerusalem feeling some disappointment. However, John is honest and gives them reason for anticipation; he offers them seeds of new hope. Sadly, they did not accept or understand his message that way. The “Precursor of the Lord” gives them enough of a message of possibility. Only if the hearers had hope and faith would they have experienced joy and recognized the cause. There we have a “key” to understanding joy: We must be open to joy as it is and as it comes – as God’s will – his mercy and grace coming to us as he wants and knows is best. If we expect joy to come in the way we want or define it, are we talking about true joy? A constant theme of Pope Francis has been to remind us of how God wants to surprise his children. He preached, “God is not afraid of new things! That is why he is continually surprising us, opening our hearts and guiding us in unexpected ways. He renews us: he constantly makes us “new”. A Christian who lives the Gospel is “God’s newness” in the Church and in the world.”¹ Joy is the fruit of our relationship with Christ and the knowledge that God loves and cares for us. It is about knowing we are in that relationship; whose fruit is mercy. Joy can be surprising and spontaneous because God is life; joy is trustworthy and firm because God is faithful. One of the tasks of growing and maturing in faith is coming to fuller realization that while joy is expressed and made visible by ephemeral or passing feelings, it is a “state of soul” and, as such, is a lasting quality that is born of the experience of mercy and goodness. Joy is a manner through which we are meant to express gratitude. In times like ours when joy seems elusive, let us appreciate Advent as an opportunity to consider and discern our lives in light of joy. Perhaps acknowledging how God has blessed us and giving thanks to him is the best first step. We might not always recognize what we think are signs or causes of joy, but the good Lord recognizes us as his beloved children and heaven rejoices. When we believe in the goodness God gives us and act generously with such gifts, no one ends up sad. Don’t worry, joy comes, often when and how we least expect it! Don’t worry; holding true and fast in faith will reveal that Christ, who is joy in person, is closer than we think.