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The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Third Sunday in Advent (Gaudete Sunday), Cycle C, 15 December 2024 Zephaniah 3:14-18 ><}}}}*> Philippians 4:4-7 ><}}}}*> Luke 3:10-18
Our altars are bursting in shades of pink this third Sunday in Advent known as Gaudete Sunday from the entrance antiphon in Latin of today’s Mass meaning “Rejoice in the Lord”.
To rejoice means to intensify joy which is a world apart from “happiness” many have mistaken as synonym for joy and rejoicing. Happiness is fleeting and superficial, dependent on the outside “stimulus” that makes us happy while joy comes from within one’s heart.
Joy is that feeling of certainty that no matter what happens to us, God would never forsake us, leading us to serenity and peace. That is why one can still rejoice and be joyful even in pain and sufferings like the elderly, the sick, or those struck with tragedy and failures. We can only rejoice when we have that deep faith in God, filled with hope that even if things get worst, our final salvation is in Jesus Christ who had come, would come again, and continues to come to us.
Joy and salvation always come together as expressed by the Prophet Zephaniah in the first reading today which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ who renewed us all in the love of God our Father.
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, as he turned away your enemies… The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love (Zephaniah 3:14-15, 17).
True rejoicing can only happen in Jesus our Savior as St. Paul insisted in our second reading today, “Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4).
In His sermon on the mount about the beatitudes, Jesus taught us that true blessedness that leads to joy is not in having everything but in being empty and poor for God, being free from the trappings of this material world. Just ask those above 50 years old today: we have less of material things when growing up but we have so much fun so unlike these days of so many gadgets and things when suicides and mental cases are on the rise. People may be happy today but not joyful.
At His Last Supper as well as after Easter in His appearances to His disciples, Jesus assured us of joy and peace if we remain in Him by keeping His commandments especially the celebration of the Eucharist until He comes again. But, in a recent Christmas party I attended, a parlor game surprised me when the host asked participants to “bring him” the first thing we look for upon waking up when everybody rushed to him bringing their cellphones!
I thought the answer were eye glasses which I first look for upon waking up to check the time. As a result, I made an informal survey when I took the elevator and during our Mass at the university when I asked the students, “what is the first thing you look for upon waking up?”
And, cellphone again was their unanimous answer which I find very alarming. Is the cellphone the new god of our modern time, replacing not only Jesus but even ourselves! It has slowly robbed us of our true joy, often caused many of our sorrows and breakdown of relationships.
We rejoice because of Jesus Christ and in our union in Him, we become one with others in whom we experience joy and rejoicing too.
Now we go to another dimension of joy and rejoicing – its personal and relational aspect. Have you experienced there are times we find it difficult to rejoice with others having fun or enjoying something while on the other hand, we are easily moved to sympathize with anyone crying or feeling api and forlorn even if we do not know them?
Is it not ironic we easily unite with strangers in sadness but not in joy? I think that perhaps, God designed us to sympathize with anyone in pain because there is a thread that connects and binds us together in times of sorrow. It is a lot different with rejoicing which presupposes a relationship, a sort of oneness to experience the others’ joy. Joy is never solitary unlike sadness that is often kept inside by the person. Joy to be really joyful has to be made known. That is why we can easily share in the joy of others when we know them. We turn sarcastic even jealous when we find others we do not know rejoicing simply because we are not part of them nor of their joys.
Rejoicing is not about what we or anyone can do but all about relationships as Luke shows us in his account on John’s baptism at Jordan that is so upbeat that we too could feel the rejoicing of the people in John’s coming and preaching that some of them thought John was the Messiah. The people felt a deep sense of belonging, of relating and knowing that they asked John what they must do to continue rejoicing!
The crowds asked John the Baptist, “What should we do?” Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” Soldiers also asked him, “And what is it that we should do?” Now the people were filled with expectation, nd all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ… Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people (Luke 3:10, 12, 14, 15, 18).
In telling us how John answered the queries of the people on what they must do to experience the coming of the Messiah, Luke teaches us that God is not asking great things from us but only simple acts of charity and mercy for one another like being kind and loving because we are already related in Him in the first place. Hence, we all can rejoice in Christ!
Here is our common misconception that if we do what is good and right, then we shall be filled with joy. Wrong. We are already filled with joy and we just have to intensify that into rejoicing because we are already God’s beloved children in baptism. When we live out our status as beloved children of God in Christ, everything follows.
Don’t you feel rejoicing just before communion, praying, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you under my roof but only say the word and I shall be healed”?
Imagine that immense love of God in Christ for us when nobody among us even the priest officiating the Mass is worthy to receive Jesus and yet, He came and made it a reality because He loves us so much! All we have to do is be sorry for our sins, reform our lives, apologize to those we have wronged, forgive those who have sinned against us… it is God who does everything for us in Jesus Christ. We do only so little but sadly, we could not even do the little things so well like coming on time for the Mass every Sunday, much less be silent to pray and listen to Jesus coming to us in Holy Communion because we are so busy conversing with those beside us or checking our cellphones.
This third Sunday in Advent, Jesus invites us to imitate John the Baptist His precursor who “preached good news to the people” with his warm and joyful presence. Spread the joy of Jesus by being kind and warm to others especially those in pain, those alone, those who are lost. After all, we are all one in Christ who is our joy and salvation. Amen.
