ADVENT OF JOY.

December 12, 2021
Third Sunday of Advent – Gaudete - C.

READINGS: Zep 3:14-18a; Cant. Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6; Phil 4:4-7;Lk 3:10-18.

“Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!” (Zep 3:14) “Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.” (Is 12:6) “Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again:  rejoice!” (Phil 4:4) Here is the insistent and powerful call of this third Sunday of Advent – C.

An Uruguayan proverb says: “A stolen object brings no joy to one’s heart.” And a Moore proverb adds: “Fun is like fine beer it is rarely enjoyable alone.”

The joy of the new coming of the Lord already invades our hearts. Christmas is at hand. Through today’s liturgy, we learn one of the greatest meanings of Advent, time of the perfect joy. So, we can say praying: “O God, who see how your people faithfully await the feast of the Lord’s Nativity, enable us, we pray, to attain the joys of so great a salvation and to celebrate them always with solemn worship and glad rejoicing.”

The third Sunday of Advent anticipates the joy of the Lord’s Nativity. We are called with insistent voices to rejoice and be glad. The “Gaudete” Sunday, with its pink color, announces the reason why the Lord is coming. The first reading, the Psalm, and the second reading are in perfect symbiosis telling us what we should do: Rejoice. For, the Lord is at hand. He is in our midst. All those things which were reasons of our tears are taken away. The gloomy veil of sorrow is removed. As says Zephaniah, “The Lord has removed the judgment against you he has turned away your enemies…” No more fear. No more discouragement. No more anxiety. All for us instead should be prayer and thanksgiving.

But for our joy to be perfect and everlasting, there are some little requirements. Thus, the answer of John the Baptist to the people who asked him: “what should we do?” To each of them, taking in accord their work and situation of life, John had a specific answer. To the ordinary crowd, he said: “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.” A call for charity, assistance to the needy, and concern for each other. To the tax collectors, John said: “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.” To the soldiers, he said: “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.” Stop briberies and abuse of authority.

Conversion is a personal action. Each one of us has something to do, taking into accord our situation of life, position, conditions, place. No one is excluded or exempted from this call, just as no one is exempted from the call to rejoice.

To the specific exhortations or recommendations of John, we could add, addressing our today’s societies in all their components. You politicians, stop abusing poor people’s rights. Stop the extrajudicial killing. Stop corruption. Stop stealing for yourselves what is to be used for the good of all. You health workers, remember your Hippocratic Oath. May it not be a hypocritical oath. You have promised to be a servant and to treat the ill to the best of your ability. May this not only be words. Apply it in caring for the sick, and above all stop putting money and the quest for material before people's lives. You, teachers and social and opinion leaders, you have a moral obligation to train young people and the future of our societies. Stop seeking only for material for yourselves. Stop being counter-role models. Our societies are in the midst of moral and ethical loss. Depravity of morals and other abuses are crescendo. It is your duty to educate and challenge consciences. You priests, pastors, and religious leaders, the spiritual wellness of people is in your hands. Stop preaching only about money and mundanities. Preach also the word of God. Stop making your churches and temples a business center. Stop as well living as managers in places where you are assigned. Be examples of servant-leaders. Moreover, be shepherds with the smell of their sheep. Share their sorrows, comfort them. Feel their needs, and feed them, spiritually as well as materially.

No one must be happy alone. The real joy springs not from what we take for ourselves, but from what we give or do for others. There is no joy in egoism or to say it better, no egoistic joy. We all aim to happiness. We all want to experience greater joy. May it, however, not be at the expense of others. Cheerfulness comes from God and is to be shared or given to others. 

One only reaches the joy of the Gospel, when he shares his goods and talents with others; when he avoids and fights injustices; when he upholds the rights of the oppressed and accuses the oppressors. Let us not be afraid to make others happy. It is only then will we, ourselves, be truly happy. Let us be instruments of joy. In practical, that could pass through some actions. What must we do? One action to make our fellow happy could be, to stop being a "Marites" (Mare, ano ang latest?) That is to stop gossiping about others and show them love. To stop selling Fake news... Instead of asking the latest news about others in terms of gossips, we could try out to help them in their needs. You could talk to your brother instead of talking about your brother. And many more good actions we could do. This Advent must be a time for good action, and in so doing, we will meet joy and make others joyous too. The Joy of the Lord be with you!