Last week, we saw the creativity of God who makes the shoot sprout from the stump and who can create children of Abraham from stones. We were struck with awe and challenged to imitate the Lord in His creativity by being humble, just, and merciful. It’s fifteen days to Christmas. As the days draw nearer to Christmas, so too is our joy. Traditionally, the third Sunday in Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday from the Latin, Gaudium, which means, joy. I would like to show that joy is the fruit of trust, hope and patience.
Joy the Fruit of Trust
Saint James in the second reading invites us to “make our hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand.” Advent is a time when we are reminded that our Savior’s coming is certain and at hand. However certain and close this may be, without trust, we will remain in anxiety. We need trust to wait for the Lord not in anxiety but with joy. When we trust that the Lord’s promises shall be fulfilled, we are at peace. Nothing can steal away our joy.
The question remains: How can we remain joyful in our time of wait? To trust is to love. The means by which we shall remain ever joyful is to realize that we are loved no matter what. How can I forget my recent visit to the hospital to anoint an elderly lady in her nineties. She held my hand and kept saying: “Life is all about love, love, love. Enjoy your life.” God’s love is expressed in His desire to save us, bless us and reward us. Isaiah puts it thus: “Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you.”
Joy the Fruit of Patience
St. James is very clear about our need of patience during this time of waiting and what to do as we wait: “Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You too must be patient.” It is a divine command for us to be patient.
Next, to show that we are patient, St. Paul invites us not to complain about one another. It is difficult not to complain when we feel maltreated. Yet, we are challenged not to complain, for to complain is to judge, but to judge is God’s prerogative. Hence, the key to remain patient is to look up to God and not to what others do to us. Seen from this perspective, we can say, like someone has rightly observed: “the key to joy and peace is to realize that all that happens is not simply happening to me, but for me, for my good, for my salvation.” Advent is a time to give up gossiping, to stop talking about others, and to start talking about God to others. This is so true as St. James concludes by inviting us to take as our example of hardship and patience the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Because they spoke in God’s name, they were fearless. They saw themselves as simply messengers to convey the message of Christ. When they suffered, their only assurance was that God was with them.
Joy the Fruit of Hope
We can only be patient to the extent by which we have hope. Without hope, we lose motivation, we lose patience. Man cannot live without hope. However, with hope, we can remain ever joyful no matter how challenging the current circumstances may be. The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that, for the sake of the joy that lay ahead, Christ bore the shame of the cross for our salvation (See Heb 12:2). However, today’s celebration of joy in advent is a reminder that the hope we wait for is not only a future reality but something that should affect the present moment. As kids await their gifts for Christmas, they are not waiting for those gifts with sadness but with joy. The hope of what they will receive widens their smiles as they begin to see boxes of presents underneath the Christmas tree. The anticipated hope of Christmas brings us joy, and that is why the priest puts on rose today, a color of joy.
Hope is born from looking backward in gratitude to what God has done, which gives us confidence in what He is capable of doing. Such is Jesus’ response to those who came from John the Baptist with the question: “Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?” He points to His works as evidence of His identity as the Messiah: Jesus said to them in reply, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” Jesus is the one and only, and there is no other. He fulfills our desires and hopes like only the Savior can do. John the Baptist once more has led us to Him to encounter for ourselves the One who is to come. He comes to bring us joy by making us whole again. What in our way of seeing things needs to be healed? What sin is causing us spiritual leprosy that we need to present to Jesus for cleansing? What in life has broken us to the point of being lame that we need to be lifted up by the Savior? What is our lack that the Good News of the Savior makes joyful?
The Eucharist is the delight of our soul. As we receive Jesus today, may we experience the joy He brings for us by coming to be simply with us.