By Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
Third Sunday of Advent: December 13, 2020
Isaiah 61: 1-2 a, 10-11; 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24; John 1: 1-6, 19-28.
Rejoice…again I say rejoice! Today is the Gaudete Sunday, asking us to celebrate in foreboding joy of the Lord and his coming. Rejoice…again I say rejoice, cries out Paul!My soul rejoices in the Lord sings the Psalmist. I exult for joy declares Isaiah! The reason for all these: the Gospel reminds us: the One for whom the whole creation longs is already amidst us! All that we need to do is, take note of the Lord present. And it is only in a holy joy that we can take note of the presence of the Lord.
Joy is the key Christian value. Especially, in today’s world, it is an essential message that a Christian is called to give, repeats strongly our beloved Holy Father Pope Francis, every time that he can! He says a christian should be able to convince the world that one can be filled with joy and live one’s life inspiring the same joy in those around and in the world at large. With all the crisis this pandemic has created and the resultant factors, it is possible that one gets confused as to what this joy really means. But as to Christian joy, there should be no doubt what it means.
J-Jesus… the first priority and the foundation.
Christian Joy is to place Jesus first in life. When the Lord is given the first and the central place in life, every thing else falls in place. Relativising every thing else in relation to God is a source of an immense serenity. John the Baptist knew that well and bears witness to this serenity! When he gives himself an identity in relation to the Lamb, as the voice crying out in the wilderness, John the Baptist is not belittling himself, but identifying the role assigned to him. And it is in terms of that role, the kind of treatment that was meted out to him, became tolerable to him. His joy was in waiting for the Lord and identifying the Lord, when he came!
The foundation of Christian Joy is the Lord himself. It involves a grateful recognition of all that God has done to us. When we are mindful of it, like our blessed mother we would break into a song of praise and thanksgiving: my soul magnifies the Lord; for the Lord has done great things for me. Like Isaiah today and like Jesus himself who would quote the very same verses of Isaiah… we would acknowledge the working of the spirit on our behalf. Our joy comes from the Lord and the Lord alone!
O-Other… prior to me and the principal criterion.
The other… has to come prior to the self in true joy. True Christian joy would take into consideration the other immediately after the Lord, who is the source of joy. Selfishness and avarice, pleasure and exploitation cannot form part of Christian joy. The corporates who find means to profit at the cost of the multitudes, the powerful giants caring nothing about the little poor ones being trampled upon, the institutions fending for their own existence caring nothing about the truly needy and the suffering…these can never be signs of true joy and the other does not matter to them at all.
The very principle of Christian joy is the community and the sense of the people of God! The Don Bosco Youth Centres in Chennai have this tag line attached to them: No one has the right to be happy alone. The call “rejoice” today, comes to the community as a whole to rejoice in the Lord who has willed to act on their behalf. Not just in seasonal acts of kindness, or sporadic events of reaching out, but constantly the other has to be placed before ‘me’…the other has to become the criterion that guides my choices and my decision making. What the prophets insisted and what Jesus lived out was this: that nothing mattered to them, when the other was in need, when an other was suffering, when an other was unjustly crushed by selfishness, insensitivity and indifference. The Other has to lead me to act…that is true joy in Christ-ian terms.
Y-You… of course last but not the least
You come at the end nevertheless “you” matter much to the Lord. You come at the end because, you are the protagonist. You should not get lost in your need and suffering, your worry and burdens, your problems and plans… Yes… you have your need, problem, issue, challenge… but the other draws your attention more and the Lord becomes the constant support, that you are able to transcend the troubles and struggles…logically, the fruit is joy, an incomprehensible joy that comes from within. People who see will wonder how you are able to be serene regardless of what you are going through…but you know it…it comes from the Lord and from the priority you give for the other.
You matter much to the Lord. It is not true to think that Christian spirit requires that you negate yourself to the extent that you think your self is evil! No, it cannot be; it is not! You are precious in the eyes of God and you form an integral and important part of God’s salvific plan. That is why the Lord comes in search of you, comes to your heart, comes to your home! Recieve the Lord! Experience the Lord! Rejoice in the Lord and you will see, how things can change in life! Your tears shall change into joy…not because the situations around you change…but because your heart changes, with the Lord coming! That is true JOY.
Rejoice… is the call today. Let’s rejoice in the Lord and prepare ourselves more intensely with that joy, to receive the Lord when He comes.
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.