This third Sunday in
Advent, Guadete Sunday, we are called to rejoice. The title “Guadete” from
the Latin word “to rejoice” comes from the entrance antiphon in today’s mass: “Rejoice
in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.” This message of rejoicing
doesn't point us to some joy or superficial pleasure from the things of this
world, but to a joy that's rooted in the way in which we prepare a path for the
Lord this Advent season. What does this rejoicing
entail? What does it call us to do in
our lives of faith?
We might get a good sense
of the biblical call to rejoice from Zephaniah in our first reading this
morning, as he and the other prophets of ancient Israel often called God's
people to rejoice in the darkest moments of their journey. Zephaniah cried out to
Israel in the midst of political turmoil and uncertainty in the 7th
century BC, before the reforms by King Josiah, before the destruction of the
Temple and the Babylonian exile. Zephaniah tells his
people that God is in their midst, that God loves them, that God invites them
to be renewed in this love. God encourages his people
through Zephaniah’s message, telling them not to fear, that he will rejoice
over them with gladness.
Paul quite possibly wrote
the letter in today's 2nd reading while he was under arrest,
certainly not the best of circumstances for him to tell the Philippians to
“rejoice in the Lord always” and to “have no anxiety at all.” But Paul goes on to say
that he wants them to have “the peace of God that surpasses all
understanding.”
What did Zephaniah and
Paul intend by telling us to rejoice in the midst of unfavorable and
challenging circumstances? Perhaps they're calling
us to holiness and wholeness. Perhaps they're referring
to the true source of our joy and rejoicing that goes beyond our existential
human state, beyond any feelings or sufferings we can have in our hearts. Perhaps they believe that
joy and rejoicing are essentially a decision we make in our lives, a decision
that is grounded in faith. Rejoicing is not
ultimately found in the worldly environment we create in our attempts to find
happiness, but instead in the presence of God in our lives, which is the
presence of love itself. That is where we find joy. That is where we are able to rejoice.
We are in the first week
of the Jubilee Year of Mercy as declared by Pope Francis. What a wonderful gift the
Church is giving us by celebrating the mercy we find in our relationship with
God. Today, we will receive a
blue wristband that will remind us of this Year of Mercy. The wristband calls us to be merciful like
the Father. And in Spanish, it says “The
Year of Mercy” - “El Año de Misericordia.” In the Gospel, tax
collectors, soldiers, and the rest of the crowds come to John the Baptist,
coming to be baptized, asking him, “What should we do?” John calls them to do
good deeds and to stop their unjust practices, to collect only the fair amount
of taxes prescribed, to share their clothing and food with the poor, to not
extort or falsely accuse their neighbor. In other words, John
calls them to works of mercy in a very real, down to earth way.
This year of mercy is not
going to be about a one-dimensional, simplistic vision of God’s mercy. It will be filled with many rich symbols and
teachings. We start the year with
the image of the open door. But rather with starting
with the opening of the holy door at St Peter’s basilica, for the first time
ever a pope opened a holy door outside of Rome, at the cathedral in Bangui, the
capital of the Central African Republic, which by some measures is considered
the poorest country in the world. The rite of opening the
holy door symbolizes that the Church’s faithful are offered an “extraordinary path”
toward salvation during this time of jubilee. In opening the door in
this poor African country, the pope proclaimed:
“We all pray for peace, mercy, reconciliation, pardon, love. Throughout
the Central African Republic and in all the nations of the world which suffer
war, let us pray for peace. And together we all pray for love and peace. We
pray together.” The holy door is also a
great symbol of Jesus being the door of salvation for us. To open the “holy door”
means to open wide for all of us the path that leads to Jesus and to invite everyone
to grow closer to him without fear and trepidation.
As we continue our
journey during Advent and as we start the Jubilee Year of Mercy, we are called
by today’s readings to rejoice. We are to rejoice and to
joyfully give thanks for the presence of God in our lives. But, with rejoicing comes
repentance, conversion, and a change of heart from those things that are
keeping us from God. May we keep this in mind
as we come ever closer to Christmas and to the coming of our savior into our
world.
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