THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

[cappie]

The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is the Latin word for "let us rejoice."   In the first reading, the prophet Zephaniah tells the downcast Israelites to "shout for joy" and "be glad and exult with all your heart."  Why? Because the Lord God is in their midst and will help them overcome present difficulties. In the second reading, Paul is writing from prison to a community also experiencing difficulties. Yet Paul exhorts the Philippians to "rejoice in the Lord always."

Despite these exhortations, all too many people do not experience joy. The mystic Julian of Norwich once wrote: "The greatest joy we can give Almighty God is to live life joyfully." The late Fr. Bernard Haring wrote: "The spirit of joy is an infallible sign that one is a Christian." The worst advertisement for Christianity is a gloomy, pessimistic face. The philosopher, Nietzche, once said: "If you Christians want me to believe in your redeemer, you will have to look more redeemed." Someone else has said: "If you are happy, you ought to notify your face."

 When our joy is dependent on things outside of us, it rests on shaky ground.
As followers of Christ, our joy must be based in the belief and, hopefully, in the felt experience that God loves us unconditionally, and that Christ through his resurrection has defeated suffering, evil and death. (I say "hopefully, the felt experience of God" but this may not be present. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta had no such experience for 40 years. Yet she believed in the darkness of faith that God loved her.) We will experience suffering, evil and death in this life but these do not have the last word. In the end, if we are connected to Christ, we will defeat all the enemies of life and enter into the joy of the Lord.
 
What steals our joy? This is a great question and one worth reflecting on. The following are some possible joy killers. 
  Self-pity.  If we indulge a lot in "poor me parties," we will not be joyful.
  Envy.  If we are always looking over our shoulders to see what others have, we will not be joyful.
  Negative attitude. If we have a tendency to always look at the glass as half empty, we will not be joyful.
  Cynicism.  It has been said that one of the temptations of aging is cynicism. Why is this? Perhaps because many of our dreams have not materialized, especially dreams for material and relational success.
  Unforgiving heart. If we deliberately carry vengeful thoughts and refuse to even pray for the grace to let go of life's hurts, we will never be happy. What else steals your joy?
 
 It has been said that joy is a by-product of something.  So what facilitates joyful living?
 
    Believing in the depths of our heart that God loves us unconditionally. We may believe this foundational truth in our heads but if we don't believe it in our hearts, Christian joy will elude us.
 
    Acceptance of our reality can help us to live joyfully. While we should try to change what needs to be changed and can be changed in our lives-be it work, relationships, health, faith, etc.-some things cannot be changed, e.g., certain physical conditions, our past, our losses, the aging process, etc.  Each day, we have the choice to accept our present reality or to constantly reject or deny it. We do not have to love the painful things that happened to us, but we need to come to terms with them or we will never experience joy.  Rather, we will forever be miserable.
 
In her book The Strength Within, Barbara Hanson talks about how she came to terms with a car accident that left her a paraplegic at the age of nineteen.  It is an inspiring story of how one person came to terms with an event that had long-term consequences. Again and again, Hanson says that while we may not have much control over the circumstances of our lives, we do have control over our attitude toward those circumstances. It is our attitude that will make or break us. We often see two people with very similar set of circumstances, e.g., a particular illness, loss of a loved one, abuse in childhood. One is filled with bitterness and resentment over his/her adversity, but the other person has come to terms with his/her circumstances and is living life with a reasonable amount of joy and peace. So coming to terms with our past misfortunes-failures, hurts, accidents, bad experiences-will most certainly lead us to live life more joyfully, whereas failing to deal with them will, most certainly, hinder us from experiencing the joys of life.
 
The "acceptance attitude" also comes into play when we are dealing with other frustrations, e.g., the aging process, and our own and other people's limitations.  Joy will always elude us if we are constantly trying to control and change others.  Likewise, joy will be lacking if we are perfectionists and have little or no acceptance of our own limitations. Surely, we should change what we can and always try to improve our performance, but that goal must be balanced with a basic acceptance of what is imperfect today in ourselves, in others, and in our life situation.
 
    Joyful living is facilitated when we accept the past as history, the future as mystery, and the present as a gift. We can't change the past. All we can do is change our attitude toward the past. We can't control the future. Our best-made plans may blow up in pieces any moment. But we can place the future in God's hands, trusting all will be well. Preoccupation with the past or future hinders us from enjoying the gift that is today. So we must learn to let go of the past, trust the future, and live today as fully and joyfully as we can.
 
    Taking time to go within to reflect and pray facilitates joyful living. True happiness and joy are found within and not in other people and the external world 
 
     Taking time to count our blessings facilitates joyful living.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote

 "If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you... Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life. Amen."