Third Sunday of Advent
Reflection: Live with joy
By SISTER MARY McGLONE
This Third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete (rejoice) Sunday. Pope Francis has consistently called us to live with joy, most especially in his apostolic exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel,” in which we find the word joy 110 times.
Zephaniah, who proclaims joy to us today, is of the “minor prophets.” All we really know about him is that he’s the son of Cushi, a name that comes from Ethiopia, and that he lived around 600 B.C. To put his message into context, it’s good to note that before the passage we hear today, Zephaniah predicted that God would choose a faithful remnant who would be the future of the chosen people. This remnant, called the anawim, were “a people humble and lowly” (Zephaniah 3:12-13). It’s to these poor and faithful people that God says, “Rejoice!”
Although we know little about him, Zephaniah presents us with a remarkable image of God. He depicts God as One whose very nature it is to forgive, “The Lord has removed the judgment against you [and] is in your midst.” Then comes the greatest novelty of Zephaniah’s image of God: “[God] will rejoice over you with happy song, renew you by love, [and God] will dance with shouts of joy for you as on a day of festival (Zephaniah 3:17-18).
What a picture! God, so in love with humanity that divine joy explodes into dance. Rejoice!
Long before this, when Moses gave the people the Law around 1300 B.C., God told the chosen people, “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). God’s dance and command to be holy portray God’s desire for an ever-deeper relationship with humanity, a relationship that gives joy to both sides (John 17:20-21) This leads us to Luke’s presentation of how John the Baptist described the concrete implications of being holy.
Luke tells us that when soldiers and tax collectors came to John, he instructed them to do their work with integrity and respect. He didn’t expect to turn selfish or bullying people into instant saints. Even a little change of their ways would help others immensely and, by changing their behavior, they were on the road to more.
Some ordinary people took John’s message to heart and asked what they should do. This group mirrored the anawim, people whose hope was the greatest wealth they possessed. To them, John said: “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the one who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.”
While that sounds excessively demanding of the poor, it’s probably what they were already doing. Very often, those who have almost nothing act with special compassion for others who have little or less than they.
These people demonstrate the freedom that Paul recommended to the Philippians. The ability to give from their want frees them from anxiety. They know and show by the way they behave that the good news is happening in their midst.
Paul was teaching the Philippians how to pray as a community whose life presents good news to the poor. Paul tells them to pray with thanksgiving and to ask for what they need because they know that a praying community will do everything possible to ensure the good of all.
As a community grows in kindness, they will increasingly know “the peace that surpasses all understanding.” They may not get everything they want — or even need — but being part of a praying community will keep their minds and hearts in union with Christ. That will bring them joy, no matter the circumstances.
What about us? Acting a bit gentler John the Baptist, Pope Francis tells us, “The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience.” He addresses this to all of us: the anawim, business owners and soldiers, pastors and plumbers, migrants and refugees, young and old, absolutely everyone alive today.
Francis teaches that if we want to experience the joy of the Gospel and union with God, we need to begin by sharing God’s concern for the poorest among us. Francis calls us to mourn at the scandal of the fact that millions starve while Earth provides enough food for everyone. He invites us to dream of a world in which all people enjoy love, nutrition, education, health care and dignified employment.
Today, the Baptist and Pope Francis urge us to seek real joy. John tells us to begin with moral integrity. Then, as we grow in awareness of God in our midst, the scandals of poverty and war will move us to work for remedies, no matter the cost.
That will bring joy to God and neighbor — and even to us!
Reading I
(Zephaniah 3: 14-18a)
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The LORD has removed the judgment against you
he has turned away your enemies;
the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.
On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!
The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
he will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.
Responsorial Psalm
(Isaiah 12: 2-6)
Reading II
(Philippians 4: 4-7)
Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Gospel
(Luke 3: 10-18)
The crowds asked John the Baptist,
“What should we do?”
He said to them in reply,
“Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him,
“Teacher, what should we do?”
He answered them,
“Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.”
Soldiers also asked him,
“And what is it that we should do?”
He told them,
“Do not practice extortion,
do not falsely accuse anyone,
and be satisfied with your wages.”
Now the people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying,
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor
and to gather the wheat into his barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Exhorting them in many other ways,
he preached good news to the people.