Advent III-C (Zep 3:14-18a; Phil 4:4-7; Lk 3:10-18) 

The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete [gow-DAY-tay] Sunday, the Sunday of rejoicing. That’s why today’s readings mention the word “joy” twelve times.

In today’s first reading, the prophet Zephaniah says, “Shout for joy, O Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel.” Zephaniah made this prophetic proclamation at the height of the Jewish exile when things appeared hopeless and unbearable. In today’s Responsorial Psalm (Is 12:6), the prophet Isaiah gives the same instruction: “Shout with exultation, O city of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” St. Paul echoes the same message of joy in the second reading, taken from his letter to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again, rejoice… The Lord is in your midst… Fear not… be not discouraged… The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all…” Paul was imprisoned when he made this appeal for rejoicing!

In the Gospel today, John the Baptist explains the secret of Christian joy as a wholehearted commitment to God’s way, lived out by doing His will. A sad Christian is a contradiction in terms. According to the Baptizer, happiness comes from doing our duties faithfully, doing good for others, and sharing our blessings with those in need. John challenges people to develop generosity and a sense of fairness, and to use these to give others reason to rejoice. John’s call to repentance is a call to joy and restoration.

 

Advent is a time for joy, not only because we are anticipating the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, but also because God is already in our midst. Christian joy does not come from the absence of sorrow, pain, or trouble, but from an awareness of the presence of Christ within our souls through it all.

We can only rejoice “always” if our joy is based on something that goes deeper than the passing pleasures of this world. What is that deeper thing? Salvation; friendship with God; something that never ends, and something no one can take away from us. That is the source of a Christian’s joy, and that is the gift Jesus brings us. The joy of Christ the Savior is different from the joys of the world in three ways.

First, it doesn't wear out.

This is because it comes from something that is alive: our relationship with Christ. This is why the Christmas tree is an evergreen tree. In winter, the other trees are leafless and dormant. But the evergreen tree is still green and fragrant. The evergreen symbolizes hope amid winter’s lifeless, cold, and dark days.

Second, Christ’s joy gets more and more intense as we advance in our journey of faith.  This is why the vestments for today's Mass are rose-colored.

Third, the more we give this joy to others, the more we will have for ourselves. And this, of course, is why we have the tradition of exchanging gifts on Christmas.

"It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).

We have all experienced that when we do something for others, even if it is costly or uncomfortable for us, we experience true fulfillment and satisfaction. But when we give into our selfish, self-centered  tendencies, we shrivel up, like Scrooge.

Like the candle-light service on Christmas Eve, by lighting someone else's candle with ours, we lose nothing, and gain more light and warmth than we had before. This is the joy Jesus wants to bring to us: a lasting, growing, self-multiplying joy that comes from accepting God's gift of our Savior.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote: "If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you... Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life.”

If friendship with Jesus Christ is the source of lasting joy, then the deeper and more mature this friendship is, the more fully we will experience lasting joy.

The Church's best spiritual writers, all agree, that this friendship depends on three things: knowing, loving, and imitating Jesus Christ. The fact that we are here today, shows that all of us, at least to some extent, already know and love Jesus Christ. But what about imitating him?

Advent still has two weeks left.

Let's make this our goal: to strive to be imitating Jesus better at the end of these two weeks than we do today. And I think we all know exactly how to make that happen: First of all, we need to start out each day in prayer, because without God’s help, we can do nothing. Then we simply need to make a decent effort to treat our neighbors as we would like them to treat us – family members first, then friends, colleagues, teammates, and strangers.

If we strive to know, love, and imitate Christ just a little bit better each day, our friendship with him will never grow cold, and, little by little, our lives will become true fountains of Christian joy. May the rest of the advent season keep us in earnest efforts to deepen our friendship with Christ.