Rejoice In The Lord Always
1. Called to Joy
2. Begin in a Small Way
Introduction
1. Called to Joy
On this Third Sunday of Advent the liturgy speaks to us, people who are too often so sad, of God as the Lord of the dance: the Lord is happy to come among us: he will dance with shouts of joy for you as on a day of festival. It is a feast for the Lord to be with us. Is it a feast for us too? Let us open ourselves to the joy of the coming and lasting presence among us of the Lord himself. He comes to us with his peace, his love, and his forgiveness, not only on the great feast of Christmas but in every Eucharist and every day when we are willing to make God’s love and peace grow in us and in our world. Lord, we are happy that you are here among us.
2. Begin in a Small Way
When the task to carry out what we ought to do certainly exceeds our potentials, what can we do about it? When the problem is too large for us to handle—like injustice and violence in the world, the lack of love, the disunity among people—what is there that we little people can do? We can begin by acting responsibly in our own little corner, with the people around us and by doing well what we have to do. St Therese of Lisieux, also known as “The Little Flower” has one of her great quotes as – “Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.” The little things matter. This is John the Baptist’s advice to those who come to him for conversion. This is what they have to do to hasten the coming of the Savior. This is perhaps all we can do to bring Christ today in our world.
First Reading: The Lord Will Come in Your Midst
To a people surrounded by enemies the prophet announces: the Lord will forgive you and bring you joy. He will live among you and renew you by his love.
1 Reading Zephaniah 3:14-18a
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The LORD has removed the judgment against you
he has turned away your enemies;
the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.
On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!
The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
he will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.
Responsorial Psalm, Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6.
R. (6) Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
R. Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
R. Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!
R. Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Second Reading: Rejoice, the Lord Is Near!
Christians should always be joyful people, says St. Paul. Their joy must be contagious, for the Lord is always near to them.
2 Reading Philippians 4:4-7
Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Alleluia Isaiah 61:1(cited in Lk 4:18)
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Concrete Actions!
We wait and prepare for the coming of the Lord by doing well the everyday things that our calling demands, particularly with regards to others.
Gospel Luke 3:10-18
The crowds asked John the Baptist,
“What should we do?”
He said to them in reply,
“Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him,
“Teacher, what should we do?”
He answered them,
“Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.”
Soldiers also asked him,
“And what is it that we should do?”
He told them,
“Do not practice extortion,
do not falsely accuse anyone,
and be satisfied with your wages.”
Now the people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying,
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor
and to gather the wheat into his barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Exhorting them in many other ways,
he preached good news to the people.
Commentary
The 19th-century Italian poet Leopardi said that in this life the only authentic joy is the joy of waiting. Fulfillment, he said, always brings disgust. What do you think? Leopardi’s work, both philosophical and poetic, is characterized by an intensely pessimistic point of view: the only joy is in waiting, the only hope is an unfulfilled hope. But don’t Christians too talk about the importance of waiting? (see Dec. 10). Is hope really only a deferment of life itself? No doubt we Christians have often indulged in shallow ineffectual hope – in all the wrong kinds of hope. But hope in itself has meaning, though we may often be incapable of it. To Leopardi, one would like to say: There is a kind of waiting that has no joy in it, like the waiting in Samuel Beckett’s play, Waiting for Godot. And on the other hand there is a kind of fulfillment that is not disgust but peace,
Blessing
We have our share of cares and worries
just like anyone else.
Yet, on account of our trust in God
and the quiet assurance
that the Lord is ever near to us,
we keep our serenity and joy.
Let your Christian joy be contagious,
with the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in the hope and joy of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.