Shout for Joy!

“Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!”

Zephaniah 3:14

Rejoice! Shout for joy! What is all this fuss about? Why rejoice? Why shout for joy? Today the Church celebrates the Third Sunday of Advent, commonly known as “Gaudete” Sunday, from the Latin word gaudere meaning “rejoice.” So, why rejoice? Like Lent, there is a penitential aspect to Advent. During Advent we are waiting for Christ by “preparing the way” and “making straight the paths” to our hearts so that Jesus might have a place in them. However, today we are reminded to rejoice (and not only repent)! The prophet Zephaniah implores the people of Judah to repent of their sins lest they fall like the Israel, who were captured and took into captivity by the Assyrians. Yet despite the pain and suffering, the prophet tells the people to rejoice because God is faithful and that He will restore them, who are faithful, and bring them home.

In the Gospel reading we see the people, who have already begun to prepare their hearts, asking John the Baptist what they should do to prepare even further for the coming of the Messiah. John tells them to do what is right and just before God and before their neighbors. In other words, to be in right relationship with God and others. Then John speaks about Jesus, the One who will come after him, who will baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit, a baptism that not only washes away sins but also gives eternal life. For this Good News, how can one not rejoice! In fact St. Paul writes to the Philippians telling them to rejoice in the Lord always and he says it again. The Christian people is a people of joy. Are we joyful?

If we think about it, it must have been very hard for the people either in exile or about to be exiled in the Old Testament to rejoice. All that they knew and had will be taken from them or destroyed, and yet the prophet tells them to rejoice. This is because joy is not something that is dependent on our circumstances or possessions. Joy is a state and way of being because it is rooted in eternity, rooted in someone; joy is rooted in Christ. When we allow our hearts to be moved by and filled with joy, our lives will never be the same. It is not our situations that lead us to joy, but rather it is joy that dictates how we ought and will face the situations ahead of us, even if they seem difficult and trying. Joy is knowing that the battle has been won and that God, who is all-powerful, all-loving, and eternal is with us and will continue to be with us. To be joyful then is to know that our hope is in God, and that we can be sure that God will provide.

All we have to do is look at the Cross. That is the source of our joy. Not rejoicing that Christ suffered and died but because God has loved us so much that He was willing to become man and to bear our sins so that evil might be destroyed once and for all. Today let us take a few moments to look back on our lives and see where the Lord has been with us and to see from where we are today, how far God has brought us, and may we rejoice because we know that as we look forward, God will bring us there too. Let us shout for joy today and everyday!

Happy Gaudete Sunday.

For more, click here for the Weekly Reflection, “Joyful Hope.”

St John the Baptist Baptizes the People, c. 1635, Nicolas Poussin