Reflection: Gaudete Sunday

Gaudete! Rejoice!
The scriptures on this Sunday take a different proclamation.  Instead of calling us to repent and turn to God, they call us to rejoice in the Lord.

Zephaniah says Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!" 

St. Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord always.  I shall say it again: Rejoice!" 

Joy seems to be lacking in our world today because of all the darkness we face daily.  Just this past week, in Connecticut, we heard of the tragic murder of innocent children and adults at the hands of an ill person.  Every day we hear of the constant struggle of Christians losing their lives to violence and persecution.  Respect for life from conception to natural death is always in the front lines, some say we should respect life and others that it should be a choice.  When we drive around town, we see homeless and hungry people looking for assistance.  Things seem dark, perhaps even hopeless. 

But we have hope.  Our hope is in Jesus Christ.  

The prophet Zephaniah says, “the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst.”

St. Paul says, “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 must keep our hope in Christ, even in the midst of such darkness.  Hope means that we are expecting something.  What we are expecting is the second coming of our Lord.  The Lord is near not because of anything we have done to deserve this grand second coming but because he is love and out of love he is coming to gather us and bring us to his kingdom.  He will come to gather the faithful to himself .  But how do we find joy in life?

         The answer is Jesus.  Jesus should and is the source of our joy in our lives.  For, it was through the love of God the Father that we were given such a great redeemer to save us from our fallen nature and reconcile us back to God after so much separation due to sin.  Our joy should be in the fact that he came to earth and through his life, death and resurrection he saved us from damnation.   Because God sent us his only begotten son we should “have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make (our) requests known to God.”  We should always hold on to faith that God is always listening to us, his children.  We should not live in fear or anxiety of what shall come.  We should have faith that this earthly battle is already won by our Lord.  If we bring our prayers to the feet of Jesus and look to him in faith to answer, according to his most perfect will, then we shall live like St. Paul says that “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Through this peace we shall know Joy. 

          It is also our duty as Christians to bring the joy of God to the world.  St. Paul says, “Your kindness should be known to all.”  The kindness that St. Paul speaks of is much more than simply being a kind person.  That is part of it of course, but it should be no surprise to any of us that Jesus calls us to be good stewards and charitable toward our brothers and sisters.  Looking out and seeing all those poor people who suffer of hunger is just as important an issue as is any other moral issue before us.  Remember that Christ gave us the commandment to love one another as he loved us.  Love, is more than simply an emotion, but rather a choice, choice to help our brothers and sisters even if it means some discomfort on our part.  Through gifts of love to our less fortunate brothers and sisters, we shall find joy and give joy all in one action of charity.

         In the Gospel, St. Luke tells us about the teachings of St. John the Baptist.  St. John in the gospel is standing in the river baptizing people calling them to repentance and conversion.  This courageous proclamation of John, intrigued the tax collectors and  soldiers to the point that they themselves became interested in the words of St. John.  Here St. John gives them all direction as to how to live according to the precepts of God.  He calls us to the same.  We must follow the precepts of God through the church.  Many times we might say, well I don’t agree with this teaching or that teaching.  Oh the church needs to get up to date with her teachings.  Well, if we believe that God is truly in our midst, that the Holy Spirit dwells among us, then we should have faith that all that Holy Mother Church teaches is all for the good of the people; giving us guidance to, by the grace of God, reach the goal, heaven, the glorious beatific vision.  

       Remember we are not of this world but we must be in this world and like Christ, sometimes, we must suffer the splinters of the cross as we too walk towards Calvary  Jesus said, “if you wish to be my disciple, take up your cross and follow after me”.  We should always look to Christ as we carry our cross until the moment when we enter into this beatific vision and we shall all finally, have the joy that God’s love disperses to us.  

REJOICE! REJOICE O ISRAEL!

Let us rejoice in our King, Jesus Christ.

Amen