Third Sunday of Advent

Third Sunday of Advent

First Reading: ISAIAH 61:1-2, 10-11

Responsorial Psalm: LUKE 1:46-50, 53-54

Second Reading: 1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-24

Gospel: JOHN 1:6-8, 19-28

Today is the third Sunday of advent. It is called Gaudete Sunday, a name taken from the Latin introit of the mass – “Gaudete in Domino semper” (Phil 4, 4-5).

Advent like Lent is also is a time of preparation and penance. Just as midway at Lent, the Church gives the Laetare Sunday to remind us that joy is compatible with penance and suffering, midway into Advent, the Church gives us the Gaudete Sunday to remind us that as we wait for the coming of the Lord, our hearts should be filled with gladness and joy. Why? Because our salvation is near. When Paul says to the Philippians, rejoice in the Lord, again I say rejoice, he goes on to give the reason of the rejoicing – the Lord is near.

The responsorial Psalm takes up the theme of gladness and joy. My soul shall exult in my God. It is the magnificat which is Mary’s song of gladness, of praise and joy in thanksgiving to God for what He did in her life. The nearness of Jesus filled the Blessed Virgin Mary with so much joy that filled with the Holy Spirit, she sang the magnificat. The nearness of Jesus also filled Elizabeth with unspeakable joy that she bursted in praise and John the Baptist leapt for joy in the womb of his mother. Our Lord is near, nearer to us than we can ever imagine. That is the joy of Christian living.

The nearness of Jesus is the joy of Advent. St Paul helps understand the origin of the sadness. Sadness or the absence of joy is caused by the distance we create between us and God either because of our sins or lukewarmness or our refusal to look up to God who loves us. To be joyful is to have Jesus and to lose Him is to be sad, without joy. Joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The Christian without joy invites the devil who comes to kill, to steal and to destroy. He first takes away your joy, then he takes over you. This is why he cannot be said to be holy, one who is not joyful.

A tourist once shared her experience when she visited the cell of St Thérèse of Lisieux. St. Thérèse of Lisieux wrote on her door, “Jesus is my only love.” That was not written in exaltation but in near despair. She was crying out to her beloved that even when she experienced nothing but pain, emptiness and darkness, she clung to the assurance of being loved by Jesus and carried lovingly in his arms. This is faith at a heroic level; clinging to God even when everything in our experience would seem to contradict His very existence or at least His love for us.

In the second reading today, St. Paul tells the Thessalonians to rejoice always, pray constantly and give thanks unceasingly. Paul is here trying to help the Thessalonians prepare for the second coming of Christ, the final Advent. In doing this, he gives us his vision or the portrait of a Christian. He gives three characteristics: continual joy, constant prayer and ceaseless thanksgiving. Is that how people see you? Are you joyful always, do you pray constantly, in season and out of season? Do you give thanks no matter what situation you find yourself?

Is it possible to be joyful at all times? When tragedy or death strikes, can you be joyful? Is it possible to pray without ceasing? Many Christians have difficulty praying at all. Can we give thanks in every circumstance? Paul does not present these virtues as counsels. He presents them as imperatives. It is not if you like, they are not optional. We must be joyful always, we must pray without ceasing and be constant in thanksgiving. Paul says, “this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that leave us sad and depressed. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that make us question God’s existence, His love and care for us and we question why we have to be joyful. We often experience apparently unanswered prayers and ask, why we have to continue to pray or even give thanks. When St. Paul wrote to the Philippians, “rejoice in the Lord again I say rejoice,” he was in prison. When we are in prison like St. Paul, when we are down with so many difficulties, when we are bereaved or suffer one tragedy or another, St. Paul says, that is the best time trust and love. That is the best time to pray and hold on to God so that we don’t lose our faith in Christ and that is the best time to give thanks. Why? Because that is when Jesus is closest to us.

He gives other exhortations; do not try to suppress the Spirit, in other words be docile to the Spirit, do not be afraid to allow the Spirit to use you. The sum of what St. Paul is calling the Thessalonians and indeed all of us, is to holiness, so that we will be blameless at the second coming of Christ, the final Advent.

If you want to be ready for the second Advent, what you have to do is to rejoice always, pray unceasingly and give thanks always and in all circumstances.

Happy Sunday

Fr. Chidi Onwuka msscc