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3rd Sunday of Advent (Cycle C) – December 13, 2009 Scripture Readings First Zephaniah 3:14-18a Second Philippians 4:4-7 Gospel Luke 3:10-18 Prepared by: Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P. 1. Subject Matter ·
Joy and rejoicing
·
The Presence of God and its transforming effects
·
Expectation
2. Exegetical Notes ·
“Shout for joy…. You have no further misfortune to fear…. The Lord is in your midst, a mighty savior….He will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals:” “There are four imperatives to rejoice (v. 14) for four reasons (v. 15). One is that Jerusalem will have no enemies to fear. God will destroy the internal enemies who caused her destruction…and the external enemies who took people into exile” (The International Bible Commentary).
·
“Rejoice in the Lord always…. Have no anxiety at all:” “The Lord is near…. This assurance should be the foundation of the Philippian Christians’ forbearance…. The peace that God gives is personified; like a sentinel it will stand guard over the hearts and minds of Christians” (J. Fitzmyer).
·
“‘What should we do?’… The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ:” “The answer John gives to those ready to repent [who ask “What should we do?”] reveals that Jesus’ radical love-commandment was thoroughly anticipated in the Old Covenant. Indeed it was something that could dawn on any unspoiled conscience” (Hans Urs von Balthasar). “If the crowd is to make fruit worthy of repentance, what are they to do?.... They are asking him in effect, ‘What is the product that reflects true repentance?’… John’s reply about the product of repentance is exceedingly practical…. He points to meeting the needs of others…. Repentant individuals are not to worry about social separation or sacrifice; they are to care for the needs of their neighbors…. The fundamental ethic involves an unselfish approach to life, which sees a person in basic need and gives a spare possession to meet
it…. John says that sharing basic needs with one’s neighbor is the proper fruit that grows out of repentance…. The fruit of repentance in a toll collector would be fair business practices, in contrast to corrupt toll collectors. The call is one of fairness to one’s neighbor…. John’s answer [to the soldiers] about the product of repentance reflects itself in practical ethics and an absence of the abuse of power…. Repentance exhorts people to be fair with others and meet basic needs with fundamental aid. This is what God desires of those who know he is present and coming: a concern for him is expressed through concern for others” (Darrell L. Bock) 3. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church ·
30 "Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice." Although man can forget God or reject him, He never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness. But this search for God demands of man every effort of intellect, a sound will, "an upright heart", as well as the witness of others who teach him to seek God.
·
1039 In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare.
·
2656 One enters into prayer as one enters into liturgy: by the narrow gate of faith. Through the signs of his presence, it is the Face of the Lord that we seek and desire; it is his Word that we want to hear and keep.
·
840 And when one considers the future, God's People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah
·
524 When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: "He must increase, but I must decrease."
·
2657 The Holy Spirit, who instructs us to celebrate the liturgy in expectation of Christ's return, teaches us-to pray in hope. Conversely, the prayer of the Church and personal prayer nourish hope in us. The psalms especially, with their concrete and varied language, teach us to fix our hope in God: "I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry." As St. Paul prayed: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."
4. Patristic Commentary and Other Authorities ·
Theodore of Mopsuestia: “Live now in utter delight, O Jerusalem, living in complete happiness and satisfaction; for God has removed all your lawless deeds and of necessity has rescued you from the power of the foe, to whom you were subjected in paying the penalty of punishment. The Lord will now be in your midst, showing his kingship by his care for you, so that trouble will no longer be able to approach you.”
·
St. Cyril of Alexandria: “By Christ and through him we are also saved as we escape from the harm of the invisible enemies, for we have a Mediator who was incarnated in our form, the
king of all, that is, the Word of God the Father. Thanks to him, we do not see evil anymore, for we have been delivered from the power of evil.” ·
Marius Victorinus: “Rejoice in the Lord always. This means that the consequence of having unity in understanding and faith is that they rejoice in the Lord and are always dear to one another.”
·
St. John Chrysostom: “This rejoicing is not separable from grief, for indeed it is rather deeply connected with grief. The one who grieves for his own wrongdoing and confesses it is joyful. Alternatively it is possible to grieve for one’s own sins but rejoice in Christ. On this account he says Rejoice in the Lord. For this is nothing if you have received a life worthy of rejoicing. He is right to repeat himself. For since the events are naturally grievous, it is through the repetition that he shows that in all cases one should rejoice.”
·
St. John Chrysostom: “It is comforting to know that the Lord is at hand. Here is a medicine to relieve grief and every bad circumstance and every pain. What is it? To pray and to give thanks in everything. He does not wish that a prayer be merely a petition but a thanksgiving for what we have received. How can one make petitions for the future without a thankful acknowledgment of past things? So one ought to give thanks for everything, even what seems grievous. That is the mark of one who is truly thankful. Grief comes out of the circumstances with their demands. Thanksgiving comes from a soul that has true insight and a strong affection for God.”
·
St. Cyril of Alexandria: “Just as a skillful physician applies to each sickness a suitable and fitting remedy, so also the Baptist gave to each group, representing a mode of life, useful and appropriate advice.”
·
St. Ambrose: “For other commands of duty have reference only to individuals, mercy has a common application. It is therefore a common commandment to all, to contribute to him that has not. Mercy is the fullness of virtues, yet in mercy itself a proportion is observed to meet the capacities of man's condition, in that each individual is not to deprive himself of all, but what he has to share it with the poor.”
·
St. John Chrysostom: “But John's desire when he spoke to the Publicans and soldiers, was to bring them over to a higher wisdom, for which as they were not fitted, he reveals to them commoner truths, lest if he put forward the higher they should pay no attention thereto, and be deprived of the others also.”
·
Gabriel Marcel: “When somebody’s presence does really make itself felt, it can refresh my inner being, it reveals me to myself, it makes me more fully myself than I should be if I were not exposed to its impact.”
·
Ralph Harper: “The paradox of the mystery of presence is that while it cannot be comprehended, in that sense cannot be handled, it can be the source of life and in that sense touched”
·
Louis Lavelle: “A person responds with total confidence and joy to one who would draw him towards an invisible presence, a presence from which he draws strength; for when another makes him aware of it, that presence ceases to be an illusion, a fiction, or a mere hope, and becomes the very presence of the living God.
·
Msgr. Luigi Giussani: “Nothing has been able to take away the expectation of our heart that the encounter with Christ has awoken in us.”
·
Msgr. Luigi Giussani: “Joy is the certitude that comes into the world for the fact of having been touched by the Mystery, in Christ’s possession.”
5. Examples from the Saints and Other Exemplars ·
St. John of the Cross (feast: December 14): As a result of the persecution that John of the Cross suffered at the hands of the members of his Carmelite community, he became an outstanding authority on expectation, dealing with anxiety, and the true meaning of joy. In The Dark Night of the Soul, he gives this counsel: There is another very great benefit for the soul in this night, which is that it practices several virtues together, as, for example, patience and longsuffering, which are often called upon in these times of emptiness and aridity, when the soul endures and perseveres in its spiritual exercises without consolation and without pleasure. It practices the charity of God, since it is not now moved by the pleasure of attraction and sweetness which it finds in its work, but only by God. It likewise practices here the virtue of fortitude, because, in these difficulties and insipidities which it finds in its work, it brings strength out of weakness and thus becomes strong. All the virtues, in short—the theological and also the cardinal and moral— both in body and in spirit, are practiced by the soul in these times of aridity St. John of the Cross wrote this prayer: Oh, then soul, most beautiful among creatures, so anxious to know the dwelling place of your Beloved so you may go in search of him and be united with him, now we are telling you that you yourself are his dwelling and his secret inner room and hiding place. There is reason for you to be elated and joyful in seeing that all your good and hope is so close as to be within you, or better, that you cannot be without him.... Desire him there, adore him there. Do not go in pursuit of him outside yourself. You will only become distracted and wearied thereby, and you shall not find him, or enjoy him more securely, or sooner, or more intimately than by seeking him within you. There is but one difficulty: Even though he does abide within you, he is hidden.
·
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol: Note that Scrooge’s conversion is brought about through the agency of the three spirits who simply show Scrooge his own life: its fact and events. By this renewed self-awareness, Scrooge shakes off the forgetfulness of self that is destroying him; he reconnects with the deepest desires of his heart. His pleading before the third spirit very much resembles the people before John the Baptist, who beg, “And what is it that we should do?” When Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning, laughing and dancing, he says, “I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man…. I’m quite a baby. Never mind. I don’t care. I’d rather be a baby.” [It is worth looking at the whole novel to draw out other pertinent analogies.]
6. Quotations from Pope Benedict XVI ·
“Advent” does not mean “expectation,” as some may think. It is a translation of the Greek word parousia which means “presence” or, more, accurately, “arrival,” i.e., the beginning of a
presence. In antiquity the word was a technical term for the presence of a king or ruler and also of the god being worshiped, who bestows his parousia on his devotees for a time. “Advent,” then, means a presence begun, the presence being that of God. Advent reminds us, therefore, of two things: first, that God’s presence in the world has already begun, that he is present though in a hidden manner; second, that his presence has only begun and is not yet full and complete, that it is in a state of development, of becoming and progressing toward its full form. His presence has already begun, and we, the faithful, are the ones through whom he wishes to be present in the world. Through our faith, hope, and love he wants his light to shine over and over again in the night of the world…That night is “today” whenever the “Word” again becomes “flesh” or genuine human reality. “The Christ child comes” in a real sense whenever human beings act out of authentic love for the Lord. ·
One aspect of Advent is a waiting that is full of hope. In this, Advent enables us to understand the content and meaning of Christian time and of history as such…Man is always waiting in his life…Mankind has never been able to cease hoping for better times. Christians have always hoped that the Lord will always be present in history and that he will gather up all our tears and all our troubles so that everything will be explained and fulfilled in his kingdom. It becomes especially clear during a time of illness that man is always waiting. Every day we are waiting for a sign of improvement and in the end for a complete cure. At the same time, however, we discover how many different ways there are of waiting. When time itself is not filled with a present that is meaningful, waiting becomes unbearable. If we have to look forward to something that is not there now—if, in other words, we have nothing here and now and the present is completely empty, every second of our life seems too long. Waiting itself becomes too heavy a burden to bear, when we cannot be sure whether we really have anything at all to wait for. When, on the other hand, time itself is meaningful and every moment contains something especially valuable, our joyful anticipation of the greater experience that is still to come makes what we have in the present even more precious and we are carried by an invisible power beyond the present moment. Advent helps us to wait with precisely this kind of waiting. It is the essentially Christian form of waiting and hoping.
·
Eternal life is that mode of living, in the midst of our present earthly life, which is untouched by death because it reaches out beyond death. Eternal life in the midst of time. If we live in this way, then the hope of eternal fellowship with God will become the expectation that characterizes our existence.
·
“The expectation of God [that comes from hope] acquires a new certainty. It is the expectation of things to come from the perspective of a present that is already give.”
7. Other Considerations ·
As much as St. Paul commands us to “rejoice in the Lord always,” the most moving thing about today’s readings is that it is God who is the first and chief Rejoicer: Zephaniah says, “God, in your midst, will rejoice over you with gladness; he will sing joyfully because of you.” The question is: Why? What causes God to rejoice in this way? It is very simple. God rejoices “as one sings at festivals,” when we dare to look deeply at our life, to acknowledge our nothingness and our actual failings, and in that knowledge ask the Lord, “What should we do?” Abandoning ourselves to our Savior with such trust in this way fills us with expectation, for to be human is to be expectation. We are not even afraid of the “unquenchable fire” with which Christ will burn the chaff because our hearts are already burning with this fire. This is the fire that guards our hearts and minds. Our ardent expectation is that this Fire will
become Flesh so that we can look at his face and speak to him as our Companion on the way. Even now, how are hearts are burning for the possibility that some day—soon!—we will meet Someone who will set our hearts to burning (as at Emmaus!). That is the Good News that John preaches to these humble, self-emptied people. They rejoice because, in their selfsurrender, they have found a permanent answer to death. Recommended Resources Consult the archived SPR for the 3RD Sunday of Advent (12-16-07) Benedict XVI, Pope. Benedictus. Yonkers: Magnificat, 2006. Biblia Clerus: http://www.clerus.org/bibliaclerus/index_eng.html Cameron, Peter John. To Praise, To Bless, To Preach—Cycle C. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 2000. Hahn, Scott: http://www.salvationhistory.com/library/scripture/churchandbible/homilyhelps/homilyhelps.cfm. Martin, Francis: http://www.hasnehmedia.com/homilies.shtml
Joy and rejoicing
·
The Presence of God and its transforming effects
·
Expectation
2. Exegetical Notes ·
“Shout for joy…. You have no further misfortune to fear…. The Lord is in your midst, a mighty savior….He will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals:” “There are four imperatives to rejoice (v. 14) for four reasons (v. 15). One is that Jerusalem will have no enemies to fear. God will destroy the internal enemies who caused her destruction…and the external enemies who took people into exile” (The International Bible Commentary).
·
“Rejoice in the Lord always…. Have no anxiety at all:” “The Lord is near…. This assurance should be the foundation of the Philippian Christians’ forbearance…. The peace that God gives is personified; like a sentinel it will stand guard over the hearts and minds of Christians” (J. Fitzmyer).
·
“‘What should we do?’… The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ:” “The answer John gives to those ready to repent [who ask “What should we do?”] reveals that Jesus’ radical love-commandment was thoroughly anticipated in the Old Covenant. Indeed it was something that could dawn on any unspoiled conscience” (Hans Urs von Balthasar). “If the crowd is to make fruit worthy of repentance, what are they to do?.... They are asking him in effect, ‘What is the product that reflects true repentance?’… John’s reply about the product of repentance is exceedingly practical…. He points to meeting the needs of others…. Repentant individuals are not to worry about social separation or sacrifice; they are to care for the needs of their neighbors…. The fundamental ethic involves an unselfish approach to life, which sees a person in basic need and gives a spare possession to meet
it…. John says that sharing basic needs with one’s neighbor is the proper fruit that grows out of repentance…. The fruit of repentance in a toll collector would be fair business practices, in contrast to corrupt toll collectors. The call is one of fairness to one’s neighbor…. John’s answer [to the soldiers] about the product of repentance reflects itself in practical ethics and an absence of the abuse of power…. Repentance exhorts people to be fair with others and meet basic needs with fundamental aid. This is what God desires of those who know he is present and coming: a concern for him is expressed through concern for others” (Darrell L. Bock) 3. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church ·
30 "Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice." Although man can forget God or reject him, He never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness. But this search for God demands of man every effort of intellect, a sound will, "an upright heart", as well as the witness of others who teach him to seek God.
·
1039 In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man's relationship with God will be laid bare.
·
2656 One enters into prayer as one enters into liturgy: by the narrow gate of faith. Through the signs of his presence, it is the Face of the Lord that we seek and desire; it is his Word that we want to hear and keep.
·
840 And when one considers the future, God's People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah
·
524 When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: "He must increase, but I must decrease."
·
2657 The Holy Spirit, who instructs us to celebrate the liturgy in expectation of Christ's return, teaches us-to pray in hope. Conversely, the prayer of the Church and personal prayer nourish hope in us. The psalms especially, with their concrete and varied language, teach us to fix our hope in God: "I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry." As St. Paul prayed: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."
4. Patristic Commentary and Other Authorities ·
Theodore of Mopsuestia: “Live now in utter delight, O Jerusalem, living in complete happiness and satisfaction; for God has removed all your lawless deeds and of necessity has rescued you from the power of the foe, to whom you were subjected in paying the penalty of punishment. The Lord will now be in your midst, showing his kingship by his care for you, so that trouble will no longer be able to approach you.”
·
St. Cyril of Alexandria: “By Christ and through him we are also saved as we escape from the harm of the invisible enemies, for we have a Mediator who was incarnated in our form, the
king of all, that is, the Word of God the Father. Thanks to him, we do not see evil anymore, for we have been delivered from the power of evil.” ·
Marius Victorinus: “Rejoice in the Lord always. This means that the consequence of having unity in understanding and faith is that they rejoice in the Lord and are always dear to one another.”
·
St. John Chrysostom: “This rejoicing is not separable from grief, for indeed it is rather deeply connected with grief. The one who grieves for his own wrongdoing and confesses it is joyful. Alternatively it is possible to grieve for one’s own sins but rejoice in Christ. On this account he says Rejoice in the Lord. For this is nothing if you have received a life worthy of rejoicing. He is right to repeat himself. For since the events are naturally grievous, it is through the repetition that he shows that in all cases one should rejoice.”
·
St. John Chrysostom: “It is comforting to know that the Lord is at hand. Here is a medicine to relieve grief and every bad circumstance and every pain. What is it? To pray and to give thanks in everything. He does not wish that a prayer be merely a petition but a thanksgiving for what we have received. How can one make petitions for the future without a thankful acknowledgment of past things? So one ought to give thanks for everything, even what seems grievous. That is the mark of one who is truly thankful. Grief comes out of the circumstances with their demands. Thanksgiving comes from a soul that has true insight and a strong affection for God.”
·
St. Cyril of Alexandria: “Just as a skillful physician applies to each sickness a suitable and fitting remedy, so also the Baptist gave to each group, representing a mode of life, useful and appropriate advice.”
·
St. Ambrose: “For other commands of duty have reference only to individuals, mercy has a common application. It is therefore a common commandment to all, to contribute to him that has not. Mercy is the fullness of virtues, yet in mercy itself a proportion is observed to meet the capacities of man's condition, in that each individual is not to deprive himself of all, but what he has to share it with the poor.”
·
St. John Chrysostom: “But John's desire when he spoke to the Publicans and soldiers, was to bring them over to a higher wisdom, for which as they were not fitted, he reveals to them commoner truths, lest if he put forward the higher they should pay no attention thereto, and be deprived of the others also.”
·
Gabriel Marcel: “When somebody’s presence does really make itself felt, it can refresh my inner being, it reveals me to myself, it makes me more fully myself than I should be if I were not exposed to its impact.”
·
Ralph Harper: “The paradox of the mystery of presence is that while it cannot be comprehended, in that sense cannot be handled, it can be the source of life and in that sense touched”
·
Louis Lavelle: “A person responds with total confidence and joy to one who would draw him towards an invisible presence, a presence from which he draws strength; for when another makes him aware of it, that presence ceases to be an illusion, a fiction, or a mere hope, and becomes the very presence of the living God.
·
Msgr. Luigi Giussani: “Nothing has been able to take away the expectation of our heart that the encounter with Christ has awoken in us.”
·
Msgr. Luigi Giussani: “Joy is the certitude that comes into the world for the fact of having been touched by the Mystery, in Christ’s possession.”
5. Examples from the Saints and Other Exemplars ·
St. John of the Cross (feast: December 14): As a result of the persecution that John of the Cross suffered at the hands of the members of his Carmelite community, he became an outstanding authority on expectation, dealing with anxiety, and the true meaning of joy. In The Dark Night of the Soul, he gives this counsel: There is another very great benefit for the soul in this night, which is that it practices several virtues together, as, for example, patience and longsuffering, which are often called upon in these times of emptiness and aridity, when the soul endures and perseveres in its spiritual exercises without consolation and without pleasure. It practices the charity of God, since it is not now moved by the pleasure of attraction and sweetness which it finds in its work, but only by God. It likewise practices here the virtue of fortitude, because, in these difficulties and insipidities which it finds in its work, it brings strength out of weakness and thus becomes strong. All the virtues, in short—the theological and also the cardinal and moral— both in body and in spirit, are practiced by the soul in these times of aridity St. John of the Cross wrote this prayer: Oh, then soul, most beautiful among creatures, so anxious to know the dwelling place of your Beloved so you may go in search of him and be united with him, now we are telling you that you yourself are his dwelling and his secret inner room and hiding place. There is reason for you to be elated and joyful in seeing that all your good and hope is so close as to be within you, or better, that you cannot be without him.... Desire him there, adore him there. Do not go in pursuit of him outside yourself. You will only become distracted and wearied thereby, and you shall not find him, or enjoy him more securely, or sooner, or more intimately than by seeking him within you. There is but one difficulty: Even though he does abide within you, he is hidden.
·
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol: Note that Scrooge’s conversion is brought about through the agency of the three spirits who simply show Scrooge his own life: its fact and events. By this renewed self-awareness, Scrooge shakes off the forgetfulness of self that is destroying him; he reconnects with the deepest desires of his heart. His pleading before the third spirit very much resembles the people before John the Baptist, who beg, “And what is it that we should do?” When Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning, laughing and dancing, he says, “I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man…. I’m quite a baby. Never mind. I don’t care. I’d rather be a baby.” [It is worth looking at the whole novel to draw out other pertinent analogies.]
6. Quotations from Pope Benedict XVI ·
“Advent” does not mean “expectation,” as some may think. It is a translation of the Greek word parousia which means “presence” or, more, accurately, “arrival,” i.e., the beginning of a
presence. In antiquity the word was a technical term for the presence of a king or ruler and also of the god being worshiped, who bestows his parousia on his devotees for a time. “Advent,” then, means a presence begun, the presence being that of God. Advent reminds us, therefore, of two things: first, that God’s presence in the world has already begun, that he is present though in a hidden manner; second, that his presence has only begun and is not yet full and complete, that it is in a state of development, of becoming and progressing toward its full form. His presence has already begun, and we, the faithful, are the ones through whom he wishes to be present in the world. Through our faith, hope, and love he wants his light to shine over and over again in the night of the world…That night is “today” whenever the “Word” again becomes “flesh” or genuine human reality. “The Christ child comes” in a real sense whenever human beings act out of authentic love for the Lord. ·
One aspect of Advent is a waiting that is full of hope. In this, Advent enables us to understand the content and meaning of Christian time and of history as such…Man is always waiting in his life…Mankind has never been able to cease hoping for better times. Christians have always hoped that the Lord will always be present in history and that he will gather up all our tears and all our troubles so that everything will be explained and fulfilled in his kingdom. It becomes especially clear during a time of illness that man is always waiting. Every day we are waiting for a sign of improvement and in the end for a complete cure. At the same time, however, we discover how many different ways there are of waiting. When time itself is not filled with a present that is meaningful, waiting becomes unbearable. If we have to look forward to something that is not there now—if, in other words, we have nothing here and now and the present is completely empty, every second of our life seems too long. Waiting itself becomes too heavy a burden to bear, when we cannot be sure whether we really have anything at all to wait for. When, on the other hand, time itself is meaningful and every moment contains something especially valuable, our joyful anticipation of the greater experience that is still to come makes what we have in the present even more precious and we are carried by an invisible power beyond the present moment. Advent helps us to wait with precisely this kind of waiting. It is the essentially Christian form of waiting and hoping.
·
Eternal life is that mode of living, in the midst of our present earthly life, which is untouched by death because it reaches out beyond death. Eternal life in the midst of time. If we live in this way, then the hope of eternal fellowship with God will become the expectation that characterizes our existence.
·
“The expectation of God [that comes from hope] acquires a new certainty. It is the expectation of things to come from the perspective of a present that is already give.”
7. Other Considerations ·
As much as St. Paul commands us to “rejoice in the Lord always,” the most moving thing about today’s readings is that it is God who is the first and chief Rejoicer: Zephaniah says, “God, in your midst, will rejoice over you with gladness; he will sing joyfully because of you.” The question is: Why? What causes God to rejoice in this way? It is very simple. God rejoices “as one sings at festivals,” when we dare to look deeply at our life, to acknowledge our nothingness and our actual failings, and in that knowledge ask the Lord, “What should we do?” Abandoning ourselves to our Savior with such trust in this way fills us with expectation, for to be human is to be expectation. We are not even afraid of the “unquenchable fire” with which Christ will burn the chaff because our hearts are already burning with this fire. This is the fire that guards our hearts and minds. Our ardent expectation is that this Fire will
become Flesh so that we can look at his face and speak to him as our Companion on the way. Even now, how are hearts are burning for the possibility that some day—soon!—we will meet Someone who will set our hearts to burning (as at Emmaus!). That is the Good News that John preaches to these humble, self-emptied people. They rejoice because, in their selfsurrender, they have found a permanent answer to death. Recommended Resources Consult the archived SPR for the 3RD Sunday of Advent (12-16-07) Benedict XVI, Pope. Benedictus. Yonkers: Magnificat, 2006. Biblia Clerus: http://www.clerus.org/bibliaclerus/index_eng.html Cameron, Peter John. To Praise, To Bless, To Preach—Cycle C. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 2000. Hahn, Scott: http://www.salvationhistory.com/library/scripture/churchandbible/homilyhelps/homilyhelps.cfm. Martin, Francis: http://www.hasnehmedia.com/homilies.shtml
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