The Real Reason for Rejoicing!

The Catholic Liturgy for the Third Sunday of Advent, Dec. 16, 2018. Zephaniah 3:1-5; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18. Theme: Real Reason for Rejoicing!

Today is Gaudete Sunday, that is, Rejoicing Sunday, marked by the rose-colored candle we light and vestments we wear.  The Old Testament reading from the prophet Zephaniah tells us to “shout with joy, the Lord, the mighty savior is in your midst” and St. Paul in the second reading from his letter to the Philippians calls us to “rejoice in the Lord always.” And in case we didn’t hear him the first time he repeats, “I say it again, rejoice!”

To truly grasp God’s message to us in these readings, it’s important for us to know that when Zephaniah spoke about shouting with joy, the people of Israel were being surrounded with dark clouds as their enemies prepared to take them away from their homes as captives and slaves.  And St. Paul’s upbeat words about rejoicing were not written from some ancient beachside resort in Greece, but from a cold dark Roman prison cell where he was awaiting martyrdom for Christ.

I think these facts about Zephaniah and Paul are important for us to remember during this holiday season. For many people, this is a time of year when the promise of joy is shattered by occasions for anxiety, family frictions, emotional and physical exhaustion as well as financial debt.  There is a great deal of stress for many because the preparations for Christmas can get so out of hand.

The sights & sounds of the Season put into our heads the false image of a perfect Christmas, as if such a thing exists. They tell us that we must be surrounded by perfect presents, that are perfectly wrapped and placed under a perfect tree. Then we will gather with the perfect family to eat the perfect meal, while enjoying perfect conversation which is shared by all in perfect harmony.  This seems to be our culture’s definition and expectation of holiday cheer.

But what the Scriptures we heard are urging us on to experience is not that elusive and transient “holiday cheer” of Christmas cards and Hallmark movies.  Rather, they are calling us to be people of authentic joy.  You see, cheer is created by our surroundings which can change in a moment. But joy, true happiness of heart, emerges from within us. It’s something that nothing from the outside can give us and which nothing from the outside can take away from us.

Zephaniah is telling us that there is one thing that is indeed a sure reality that will never change, and we can count on it to find and maintain joy in our hearts - not just at Christmas but all year round: God’s delight in and love for each one of us personally. In our reading the prophet says, “God will rejoice over you with gladness and renew you in his love.”  Have you ever stopped to really think about that and let it sink in?

The Scriptures - from beginning to end - assure us that God delights over you, delights over me, delights over each one of us personally.  To put in human terms, God is like a Father who looks at his kids and smiles from ear to ear simply because they are, simply because they exist. His love is unconditional, which can be so hard for us to grasp because our love is so often very conditional. But once we experience and become convinced of God’s personal love, there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can take it away.

As a popular religious saying puts it so well: there is nothing we can do to make God love us more, and there is nothing we can do to make God love us less.  God’s love is eternal, unchanging, guaranteed. And it’s this personal love that converts and transforms us from the inside out, and makes us want to live and act as Christians, as the people He has called to be His very own.

This is the true rejoicing of Gaudete Sunday. This is the authentic holiday cheer of Christmas.