A Reflection for 3rd Sunday of Advent (Year C).
Zephaniah 3:14-18 – Philippians 4:4-7 – Luke 3:10-18.
Dear brothers and sisters, on this 3rd Sunday of Advent the Church calls us to rejoice as we look forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ at Christmas (Gal 4:4), at our appearing before the Lord at the end of our physical life (2Cor 5:10), and at the coming of the Lord in glory with His angels and saints at the end of time (Mt 25:31). We are called to lift our hearts to God and be joyful. The Lord is at hand (2R v.5). Already He is in our midst (Lk 17:21). Today’s readings resound with the glory of the closeness of the Lord Jesus Christ to us. In our human frailty, it can be challenging whenever life hits us hard for us to hang onto the multiple excellent reasons to rejoice in God. Circumstances can make it difficult for us to feel joyful in the Lord, even when we know that God loves us and has proved His love for us time and time again throughout salvation history. The torrent of problems that come with day-to-day living can feel overwhelming. We see so much sadness and sorrow around us. There are occasions when we instinctively feel rejoicing to be inappropriate, for example when someone’s wife or husband or child is ill, or when someone is facing a bereavement in their family. We certainly wouldn’t rejoice when those events happen in our family circle. Anxiety about our situation in the here-and-now, apprehension about what might happen to us in the future, and the fear induced by the blizzard of bad news and projections of the mainstream media, can all serve to make us feel deeply despondent. When we take a look at the situation of the world, it rarely gives us joy, and yet today we are called upon to rejoice. The Responsorial Psalm urges us to Sing and shout for joy for great in your midst is the holy one of Israel (Is 12:6).
Today’s readings give us genuine reasons to rejoice. In the 1st reading, we rejoice because the Lord is in our midst (v.15). So we ought not to be fearful. Why not? Because He both loves us and takes care of us. By his presence, He drives out our enemies, cancels our sentence and fights on our behalf for us. God is a victorious warrior (v.17): evil is not going to triumph in the end (2Pet 3:13). Despite the plethora of things to worry us and distress us, the Lord assures us of His permanent presence in our lives (Ps 27). His presence is our victory: thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Our Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor 15:57).
In the same vein, the 2nd reading encourages us to rejoice and not to worry because the Lord is very near. Instead of worrying ourselves into a frazzle and becoming overwhelmed by our churning thoughts, the remedy is to seek a haven in God. Here’s what to do. Focus on heavenly things to find ways forward in earthly things (Col 3:2f). Stay in close contact with God: resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you (Jas 4:7f). Walk through life with Him step by step in prayer, trust and thanksgiving! Do you know what God’s gift of joy accomplishes in you? The joy of the Lord alleviates your fears, worries and anxieties. The joy of the Lord energizes your body, mind, soul and spirit. The joy of the Lord disposes you to prayer and thanksgiving because it gives you the brightness of God’s perspective on living out your life in this world against the dark atheistic or nihilist perspective. (but, you do have to ask Him.)
Divine joy is way, way above and beyond the mere absence of sorrow and the diminishment of pain. Rather, it is the realization that Jesus is present with you in every single situation that you are going through in your life. When St Paul wrote to the Philippians, it wasn’t a happy time for him in an earthly sense because he was stuck in prison. Zephaniah was prophesying during the Jewish exile when the morale of the people of God was at rock bottom. This calendar year has been awful for so many people. Lives have been impacted by the death toll from Covid-19 and its variants, and by the social restrictions and political spin that have accompanied these. Lives have been blighted by poor health and untreated illness due to lack of access to healthcare. Lives have been ravaged by terrorism, poverty, hunger and homelessness. People have been suffering, and they are suffering right now. Christmas is coming, a time for rejoicing, and yet for so many the days ahead look so bleak.
God is calling you, encouraging you to look to Jesus who can give you joy because He is joy incarnate. The reality of Jesus – the reality that Jesus is the Son of God and has full power over heaven and earth (Mt 28:18) – gives you the reason to resist having your spirit sunken in misery and your soul anguished by earthly horrors and antics. How do we attain this joy? What should we do? The people who asked this same question of John the Baptist (v.10) were already filled with a feeling of expectancy (v.15), but for divine joy to manifest they had to be ready to share what they had with others (v.11). Indeed, sharing with other people the graces and blessings that God has bestowed upon us in our own lives gives us a taste of God’s joy. Similarly, as John addressed different people telling them what goods to share according to their circumstances, so also what we can share with our brothers and sisters can vary according to our circumstances too. True happiness comes from doing good, from living an honourable life, and from showing concern for those in need for God’s sake. Rejoice with me, brothers and sisters! Again I say to you: Rejoice! (2R v.4) May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope (Rom 15:13) Amen. God bless you!