Rejoice! Rejoice!! Rejoice!!!

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, December 13, 2020

The third Sunday of Advent is generally called in Latin Guadete Sunday, which means, Rejoice Sunday. Advent is the season of preparing for the coming of the Lord Jesus— both his first coming and his second coming), and by the third Sunday of Advent, we are almost there, so, it is appropriate to rejoice as we can see that “The Lord is near.” There is the theme of joy in all the readings. If the proclamation of Isaiah sounds familiar to you, it is because at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus read it in the synagogue when he visited Nazareth his hometown. Luke tells us that Jesus stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Upon unrolling the scroll, he found the passage where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Lk. 4:18-19). But Isaiah’s prophesy was made several centuries before Jesus was born. It was first directed to Israel upon their return from exile after the Persians defeated the Babylonians. After the return, Israel was oppressed again by the Greeks and the Romans. Having been freed from captivity in a foreign land, they returned to their land to find it destroyed and desecrated. Like their ancestors before them in Egypt, they cried and wondered why they had been led out of slavery only to experience hunger and desolation. So, from the heart of the nation comes the joyful and hopeful proclamation of the prophet Isaiah who called himself the “anointed,” and also assured them that this is a time of favor for them by God, that a great reversal will take place: “glad tidings” for the poor, “healing” for those who mourn, “liberty” for captives and prisoners, and a jubilee year for all. Because of what is to come, Isaiah encouraged his countrymen and women to embrace the attitude of joy. Even though they returned to a destroyed and desolated land, Isaiah saw hope, and saw their homecoming as renewal of the covenant in which God will treat the nation as his adopted one. 

In the second reading, St. Paul offers three basic Christian attitudes that should serve as the foundation for holiness. First, followers of the good Lord are to be people of joy: “Rejoice always.” Second, they must be a people that prays always; and finally, they are to be people of thanks. Regardless of what we face and experience, joy, prayer, and thanksgiving are to be the pattern of life for those who are waiting for the day of the Lord’s return. We rejoice not because we are completely free from suffering, pain, and trials, but because we are not alone. The Redeemer is with us just as he was with the nation of Israel during their captivity and exile. We rejoice because in the final analysis, all will be well. We pray because through it we touch and receive touch from the One who got the whole world in his hands. We give thanks because God is worthy. We thank him for all we have and are. We thank him for salvation made possible by his Son, Jesus Christ. The Gospel is about the emergence of John the Baptist who came to testify to the light. After all the doom, gloom and darkness, John emerges, and using the words of prophet Isaiah, he claims that he is that voice that Isaiah said 500 years ago that is crying in the desert. What is his message? “Make straight the way of the Lord.” 

Now, considering what we have been through and still going through, you may be doubting the possibility of joy in the face of so much tales of suffering, death and anguish. You know, in normal and journalistic term and usage, happiness and joy are interchangeably used. We see them as synonyms. But theologically speaking, they do not have the same meaning. For according to the Dutch Catholic priest, professor and theologian, Henri Nouwen, happiness is dependent on external conditions like wealth, good health, good job, thriving business, stable family, safe environment etc. but joy is "the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing – sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death - can take that love away." Joy can be present even in the midst of sickness, sadness and struggle. Joy is not contingent on what we have or where we are or what we are doing. It does not rest upon the material acquisition or achievements. It is rather the experience of knowing that God loves you with an everlasting love, that God's love for you cannot fade or wore out. It is about knowing that you are exceeding loved by the almighty God. So, I urge you to realize that you are a special person to God. May the awareness of God's depth of love for you trigger you now to be joyful and dance all the days of your life. If you are going through a difficult time in your life right now, stop looking at your trouble. Look at the immensity of God's love for you, and in gratitude speak to him about your situation. May the One who loves you exceedingly hear your prayer of mercy and help. Amen