THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
13 DECEMBER 2015
Both
the Prophet Zephaniah and the Apostle Paul seem to be full of “Holiday
Cheer.” Zephaniah tells Jerusalem to
shout for joy, to be glad, and to exalt.
Saint Paul is not content with telling people to rejoice once. He says it again: rejoice!
But, both the prophet and the apostle are in very difficult
situations. Zephaniah does not write
from a corner office in Jerusalem. There
is no Jerusalem, because the Babylonians had destroyed it and dragged the
remaining citizens into exile. Saint
Paul is not sipping cocktails at a nice resort.
He is in prison, waiting to be executed.
And he is writing to a community which has been torn apart by gossip and
backbiting between two factions.
Their
difficult situations do not keep them from their message of joy. Zephaniah tells his people in Babylon to
rejoice, because the Lord is about to free them from captivity. He has released them from their infidelities
which had caused their downfall in the first place. Saint Paul encourages the Philippians to
rejoice, because the Lord is near. They
need to put their petty concerns aside and open themselves to that peace of God
which surpasses all understanding.
The
nearness of the Lord is the basis for the words of Saint John the Baptist. He knows that the expectations of people are
high, looking for the joy that will come with the Christ, the Messiah. So, he tells that his coming is near. For that reason, they need to repent, to
change, and to prepare for his coming.
He is not vague about the need to change. The crowds should be more conscious of the
needs of the poor and the needy and share a portion of God’s gifts with
them. Even the hated tax collectors can
change. They need to be fair in
collecting the taxes they hand over to the Romans and not extort their own
people. He tells the soldiers not to
bully people and to use their power to serve others and not their own
interests.
The
Prophet, the Apostle, and the Baptist speak directly to us today. They tell us to rejoice and be joyful. Speaking from an exile in Babylon, from a
stinking prison, and from a barren desert, they tell us that joy does not
depend on being cheerful. There is no need
to deny that we live in a dark and dangerous world. To make matters worse, we increase the
darkness of our world by making bad choices.
In order to experience true joy, they encourage us to take an honest
look at those choices. An honest look
reveals that we do not always share our blessings. We ignore the advice of Saint Basil the Great
who tells us that “the bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat
unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it.” We can easily focus all our energies on our
own needs and forget the needs of others. For those of us in positions of
authority and power, it is always easier to serve ourselves, rather than
others.
The words
of these three Biblical figures point us in the right direction. They invite us to rejoice in the nearness of
the living Word Made Flesh, who has the power to transform our lives. The Lord is near to us when things are going
well and when Christmas preparations might bring cheer and happiness. The Lord is also near to us, when things are
not going well, when we are in the darkness of grief or loss or illness or
disaster. He is present in our
darkness.
If you got
up early enough on Thursday morning, you saw the color of rose in the
east. The sun would not bring the bright
light of day for another half hour. But
that rose color, which became more brilliant in the passing of time, provided
hope. The light of the sun was coming. We wear rose today, because the Lord is
near in the darkness of our world and in the darkness of our lives. In the midst of preparations for Christmas,
come to the Advent Penance Service at 7:00 on Tuesday evening. 18 priests will be here to be sacramental
instruments of the light of God’s mercy, giving God’s peace which surpasses all
understanding.
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