Rejoice in Good News
Father Phil Paxton, CP
To All,
The Third Sunday of Advent is usually referred to as Gaudete Sunday. “Gaudete” means “Rejoice!” We rejoice because Christmas is getting closer and closer. And so, we see references to joy in our first two readings. In our first reading from Zephaniah (3:14-18a), the prophet proclaims: “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! …The Lord has removed the judgment against you…Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a might savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love…” In our second reading from Philippians (4:4-7), St. Paul writes: “rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! … The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” We are to rejoice because “The Lord is near.” As Christmas is only weeks away, we are reminded that God is always with us.
In our Gospel reading (Luke 3:10-18), the reference to joy is not so explicit. As we reflected last week about opening our hearts to Jesus, this Sunday, we hear more about opening our hearts to one another. In our Gospel reading, we again see John the Baptist. And after hearing John’s call to repentance, the crowds, and then the tax collectors, and then the soldiers, all ask John the same question: “What should we do?” I think we can summarize John’s answer in two parts. One part is to treat others with justice. John tells the tax collectors and the soldiers not to commit the sins normally associated with their profession: no extorting or cheating the people, no false accusations, no accepting bribes (“be satisfied with your wages”). The other part is to be generous to those in need. To the crowds, he says, “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.”
After this, John has to tell the people he is not the Messiah: “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear the threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” And then Luke tells us “Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people.”
That last part about the Messiah taking a “winnowing fan” and gathering the wheat into the barn, but burning the chaff doesn’t sound much like “good news” to me. And maybe there are some people in our divided times who might actually rejoice at the thought of “those people,” whoever they may be, getting what’s coming to them. Being a sinner myself, I cannot rejoice with them.
But what if we could see the image of the wheat and the chaff not only referring to the saved and the condemned, but to the traits within us that lead us toward or away from God? What if we were to let the fire of God’s love in Jesus Christ “burn” away all those defects of character that get in the way of Jesus “renewing” us in love? Things such as: pride and jealousy and resentments and greed and lust and prejudice and selfishness, among many others? That indeed would be good news. And the way we let God’s love in is to practice the things the Baptist was telling the people to do. In the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, people are told to take the actions first, and the feelings will follow.
When we do God’s will in our lives, we experience a peace and joy the world cannot give, as we put ourselves into the loving hands of God. As St. Paul writes: “Then the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
I welcome any comments or questions. Thanks for your time.
In Christ Who is to Come,
Phil, CP