Third Sunday of Advent

 http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121414.cfm

This year, for the Sundays of Advent, I am focusing on a theme that connects the readings and the Sunday themes together. “Turn back to the Lord and prepare His way. Let us rejoice, for the Lord is coming among us.” We have already talked about turning back to God from sin and about preparing for His coming in the last two Sundays. Today's readings and the overall theme is about rejoicing!

The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally called “Gaudete Sunday”. Gaudete is the Latin word for rejoice. We mark this particular Sunday by lighting the pink or rose colored candle on the Advent Wreath. The reason behind this change from violet to rose and from penance and preparation to rejoicing is because at this point we are already halfway through Advent. We are closer than ever to the birth of Christ at Christmas. The Church is basically asking us to take a break in the midst of all these preparations for Christmas and remind ourselves that we are to rejoice because Christmas is coming soon.

I think it is worth taking a moment to reflect on something here: what does it mean to “rejoice”? Also, what does it mean to be joyful? People typically consider “rejoicing” and “joy” and “joyfulness” as synonyms with “glad” and “happy” and “happiness”. When we consider the definitions of those words in the dictionary they are, of course, synonyms. But I would argue that words like “rejoice” and “joyful” have a much deeper and more meaningful definition than the other words, especially considering their use with in Sacred Scripture and in the prayers at Mass. There are many things in this world that we can say make us happy or joyful. Maybe it's a thing we enjoy or perhaps seeing family that we only see during Thanksgiving or Christmas. It might be a special event in our lives or even the simple pleasure of taking time to relax after a long day. We could use any of those words I've been talking about to describe our feelings associated with these events. In normal, everyday use they are all interchangeable. However, when we get into Scripture passages and liturgical prayers that talk about our relationship with Jesus and the Father and about entering into Heaven the feelings described are much deeper and more significant than being happy that our favorite television show is on tonight. When the Prophet Isaiah says that he rejoices “heartily in the Lord” he is talking about a greater joy than we can experience for any earthly thing. When prayers talk about the joys of Heaven and salvation, we are talking about a feeling of elation that we can only have with a close and personal relationship with God. This joy can only come from God and nowhere else.

The problem is, we have allowed our words to become watered down. Words that are meant to convey an intense meaning have been simplified by association with words that are much less intense. For example, the word “love” is used to describe many feelings and relationships, from the love of spouses and between parents and their children, to the “puppy-love” that a young couple might have, to the love of a favorite dessert. It can be hard to know sometimes what type of love a person is really talking about. Similarly, we have confused our happiness for material things with the joy of Heaven. This goes well beyond a simple confusion of words. Our society has gotten so fixated on a perpetual pursuit of happiness, of always trying to be happy with earthly and material things, that we have forgotten about the pursuit of a higher good and of a higher joy that can only be found with God and in Heaven. We are being called to find that higher joy.

When we look at the readings for today, we can see more clearly how we are being called to rejoice. The Prophet Isaiah talks about being anointed to fulfill a special task. “The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners.” This special task is to go out and announce a special blessing from God, particularly to those who need it most. You may recall that Jesus makes reference to this same passage later on in His ministry. He tells the people gathered in a synagogue in His hometown that the passage is being fulfilled, in their hearing. In other words, He is fulfilling it. He is announcing glad tidings by proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God; He heals the brokenhearted and brings liberty to captives. So when Isaiah says that He rejoices heartily in the Lord, it is because he knows that the Messiah is on His way. The Church puts this reading on this day to remind us to rejoice as well.

In St. Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, we hear more about the need to rejoice. “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” We are told to rejoice always: not just on this particular Sunday, not just during the Advent and Christmas Seasons, not just when good things are happening for us. In other words, we are not to despair or loose hope, but to hold on to what is good. We do this, the Apostle explains, “for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”. We want to be ready for when Christ will come again. We also know that Christ, in His mercy, will preserve us from what is evil.

Finally, in our Gospel, the focus is not so much on rejoicing, as it is for the reason we should rejoice. St. John the Baptist takes over for Isaiah as the last of the prophets and announces the coming of one whom the prophets have foretold. The Baptist baptizes with water, this one promises to bring something even more important. John's words are announcing something wonderful about to happen.

Let us rejoice, my brothers and sisters. Christ will soon be here.