By Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
December 12, 2021: Third Sunday in Advent
Zephania 3:14-18; Philippias 4: 4-7; Luke 3: 10-18
Gaudete Sunday… the call is to Rejoice! Rejoice, Rejoice in the Lord, shouts St. Paul today to us and that is what the first reading calls usto do – to shout in joy! Why all these Joy? Because the Lord is near; and we are half way through the preparation that we began towards encountering the Lord, who comes to meet us.
The call to Rejoice comes to us in a time that may not so easily concede us the possibility to rejoice… with the pandemic fears still looming, with new virus threat that is keeping the world still quizzing, the increasing uneasiness with regard to immigration and climate crises…these are some urgent concerns that may instill more fear anxiety than joy, naturally speaking! Exactly… naturally speaking, it is so… but spiritually speaking?
Spiritually speaking, we are called to Rejoice! And it is possible to rejoice, whatever be the situation around us! And not just that, as Pope Francis says, “The Christian life is “joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17), for “the necessary result of the love of charity is joy; since every lover rejoices at being united to the beloved… the effect of charity is joy” (Gaudete et Exultet 122). Pope Francis instills in our minds the centrality of Joy in Christian vision of life – the Joy of the Gospel, the Joy of love, Rejoice and be glad… these exhortations of the Holy Father reminds us what it means to live as Christians in these times.
The Word this Sunday explains to us, we are called to rejoice and it is not merely having all fun. It is as reflected in Rom 14:17, joy in the Holy Spirit. It is the Joy of the Reign! The Joy of the Reign is all about, Sharing, Simplicity and Sincerity.
The Joy of the Reign is about the joy of Sharing! It is not having all the fun, as we reflected already. It is spreading happiness, making people smile, standing with the poor, joining hands with the just, fighting for the exploited, seeing the weak strengthened! That joy is not a selfish hedonism. The tendency to hoard on, the selfishness of grabbing, the wickedness of exploiting… these are diametrically opposed to the sense of joy in the holy Spirit. When the Baptist was asked to counsel the people about what to do, for the imminent coming of the Lord, he said – Share! To share what one has is to feel for the other, to give up what one has for the other, to feel compassion for the other – what else is the Reign of God, but this! To Share…not from our abundance, but from our love and care for the other. Once we begin to care for the other, the Reign begins to flower!
The Joy of Reign is about the joy of Simplicity! Simplicity is being without complication; being straightforward; being what you are without pretence. When the tax collectors asked the Baptist for what they should do, there was a bit of pretence in it…they were not in anyway ready to leave their jobs as tax collectors. But just because they wished to show their enthusiasm of the moment, they dared ask him that counsel. And he spared no one: you need not be what you are not! You are tax collectors, collect just tax and no more, he said. In our jobs and life situations, we are in a particular context and within that we have the choice to be righteous or not! The choice that we make there, clear and straight forward, would give us a peace of mind, out of which shall be born true and simple joy, the joy of the Reign.
The Joy of the Reign is about the joy of Sincerity! John the Baptist had every opportunity to enjoy a popularity and recognition that really did not belong to him. He need not have claimed to be the Messiah, enough to have been silent, they would have given him all the honour and respect. But what mattered to him was, his sincerity and that is what made him a person of the Reign, and one who was greater than anyone born of a woman! Sincerity is all about knowing the truth, sticking to the truth and daring to live by it. Sincerity is the source of true joy of the Reign.
There is a baptism that we are called to, invited to, challenged to: the baptism of the Spirit. The Baptism of the Spirit leads us to a life in the Spirit: a life of sharing, a life of simplicity, a life of sincerity! The Joy of the Reign is what the Lord promises us, provided we are ready to wait on the Lord, behold the Lord’s promises and live by the Spirit. Let us rejoice, we have the Lord with us!
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He is currently pursuing his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him.