LIVING A JOYFUL LIFE

Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday)

Zep 3: 14 – 18 / Is 12 / Phil. 4: 4 – 7 / Lk 3: 10 – 18

What makes people joyful? To have their Christmas socks filled with gifts by Santa makes children joyful. To have a perfect match before time runs out makes those searching for their true love joyful. To have extra money – 13^th month pay and a bonus this Christmas makes workers joyful. To have paid all your debts and dues before the year ends makes people joyful. How about you? What makes you joyful?

Our liturgy today is inviting us to be joyful, to rejoice! This third Sunday of Advent is also called “Gaudete Sunday,” a Sunday to rejoice! In fact, priests today wear pink or rose vestments to highlight the joyful tone in the liturgy. Even our two readings today invite us to rejoice. In our first reading, the prophet Zephaniah tells Jerusalem to “Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!” Why? Because “the Lord is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear.” The same is also true in our second reading today. Paul exhorts the Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” Why? Because “the Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all.”

My dear friends, today, we are asked to rejoice not because after this Mass all our problems will be gone; not because after this Mass all will be well in our family and married lives; not because after this Mass we will have no more fears and worries about the future. We are called to rejoice because our readings assured us – that the Lord is in our midst; God is with us. We rejoice because we are assured of God’s accompanying presence in our lives now and forever. We are never alone. You and I are never alone.

However, rejoicing in the presence of the Lord also means sharing this joy to others. And this is what John the Baptist highlights in our Gospel today when he told “those who have two cloaks to share with the person who has none; and to those who have food should do likewise; tax collectors must not exceed in their collection; and soldiers must not practice extortion.” True joy happens when it is shared with others. And this is the rationale of Christmas. The Father wants to share His joy in heaven by sending us his only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

My dear friends, today we are called to rejoice because we have been assured of God’s accompanying presence in our lives. However, today, we are also called to share such joy especially to those who continue to thrive in sorrow and sadness.

Pablo Picasso, a Spanish of the 20^th century, and a famous artist who created an impact on the world of art, once said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” As Christians, we have found the meaning of our lives because we have found our gift – the gift of God’s accompanying presence in our lives. I do not know with regards to the purpose of our lives. Have we given away the joy of having Christ in our lives? Have we given away not just our possessions but our whole selves so that others will rejoice? To be more specific, have we been generous today? If not, then we have not yet lived a life, a joyful life. Amen.