Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent, Dec. 12, 2021. Zephaniah 3:1-5; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18. Theme: The Real Holiday Cheer!
Today is Gaudete Sunday, that is, Rejoicing Sunday, marked by the rose-colored candle we light in our Advent Wreath as we draw closer to Christmas. It’s pretty hard to miss the rejoicing theme throughout our liturgy. 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 the encouraging message, “I say it again, rejoice!”
To truly grasp the impact of today’s Scriptures, I think it’s important to know what was happening to Zephaniah and Paul as they were proclaiming their messages of joy. When Zephaniah spoke about shouting with joy, the people of Israel were about to undergo the worst time in their history, surrounded by invading enemies who would take them captive as slaves. And St. Paul’s upbeat words about rejoicing were written from a cold dark damp Roman prison cell, where he was in chains, awaiting trial by the Emperor and martyrdom for Christ. I think these facts are important for us to remember during the holidays when all the sights and sounds of the season tell us that we are supposed to be full of cheer and enjoying the happiest time of the year no matter what’s going on around us.
So how appropriate that immediately after encouraging us to “rejoice always”, St. Paul tells us to “have no anxiety at all”, because for many people anxiety reaches a peak at Christmas time. Trying to attain and maintain our holiday expectations of joy can be emotionally draining and physically exhausting. The “ho ho ho” of jolly old St. Nick can easily end up being silenced by all the planning and rushing, by bracing ourselves for the inevitable family frictions and trying to fit too many things into our already crammed schedules. There can be a great deal of stress that makes it very challenging to be joyful because the preparations for Christmas can get so out of hand.
Our traditional American Christmas culture too often puts into our heads the false image of a perfect Christmas, as if such a thing exists. It tells us that we must be surrounded by perfect presents, that are all perfectly wrapped and placed under a perfectly decorated tree. Then we are expected to gather with our perfect family in order to eat the perfect meal, while of course enjoying perfect conversation which is shared by all in perfect harmony. This seems to be our popular expectation of holiday cheer, and while we all know it's not realistic, we keep demanding it of ourselves! And so it might be a bit difficult to hear our liturgy today shout out about Christian joy.
However, the rejoicing that the Scriptures are urging us on to experience is not the elusive and transient “holiday cheer” that we find in Christmas cards or in Hallmark movies. Rather, it's an inner happiness of heart that’s not rooted in our culture’s false optimism or fake expectations. Christian joy doesn’t ignore the obvious reality of difficulties and struggles in our lives, but it encourages us to look beyond these things and see the bigger picture of our existence. You see, the difference is that holiday cheer is something that is beyond our grasp and control. It is created by our surroundings which can change in a moment.
But Christian joy is rooted in what the prophet Zephaniah says to us today, “God will rejoice over you with gladness and renew you in his love…he will sing joyfully because of you”. Let the profound reality of those inspired words really sink in. And just in case we find it hard to believe that God truly rejoices over each one of us, Zephaniah goes further and proclaims that God is singing joyfully because of us. Have we ever really stopped to think that this is how God sees our relationship with him? And equally important, is this how we see our relationship with him? If not, we should because he has told us that it is so. God rejoices in you! God sings over you! He himself has told us that this is how he thinks of us when he beholds us. Once we truly grasp this reality we will understand the reason why we should be rejoicing today and always!
The delight that God finds in us and the song that God sings over us is made manifest in an undeniable and tangible way in the Baby laying in the manger of Bethlehem. It is precisely why we celebrate the Bambinelli custom on Rejoicing Sunday. The figurines of the Christ Child that we bless today remind us that God has loved us so much that he left the glory and grandeur of Heaven, laying aside his divine power, to become a simple, vulnerable and dependent human being for you and for me.
The Bambinelli figurines, simple as they are, keep telling us the story of Bethlehem year after year, assuring us that since God has become one of us, we no longer have to walk through life alone. We no longer have to wonder if we are indeed each precious and loved by him in a way that can never be undone. Bethlehem reminds us that God delights in us. Bethlehem proclaims that God sings joyfully over us. Bethlehem proves that God has become one of us. This is the true rejoicing of Gaudete Sunday. This is the authentic holiday cheer of Christmas which brings us a joy that can be ours all year long.
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