3rd Sunday of Advent, Year C
Today we celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent, which is traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday. It is called Gaudete Sunday because it is based on the Introit for the day: Gaudete in Domino semper, iterum dico, Gaudete, which is from the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians, chapter 4, verse 4, that we heard in today’s Second Reading which means, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” This calls us to rejoice because our Salvation is at hand. To this Prophet Zephaniah in our First Reading adds “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The LORD, your God, is in your midst, (He is) a Mighty Savior.”
This is in fact reminds us of the joy of the Advent season brings with the coming of our Savior. The happiness and joy we are called to experience today stems from the fact that true happiness and joy can only be found in the Lord, and He is going to bring that joy to us on Christmas Day. If our Lord is present in our lives, there is nothing to worry about. The joy God brings to us is very powerful as we can see in the lives of St. John the Baptist and St. Paul who gave their lives for the sake of the gospel, because they found solace and joy in the abiding presence of God who cares and loves them.
The happiness and joy God gives us my dear friends, is essential for every christian because it is profound, real and helps us overcome all challenges, difficulties and obstacles we face in life. So how can we bring this happiness and joy into our lives and our world today?
We can bring God’s happiness and joy into our lives this Advent season by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, making our requests known to God as St. Paul instructed us today in the Second Reading.
We can bring God’s happiness and joy into our world today by being generous and charitable as stated by St. John the Baptist in today’s Gospel Reading when he told the crowd, “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.”
We can also bring God’s happiness and joy into our world today by being just or living a just life as St. John the Baptist emphasized in the Gospel Reading when he called on the tax collectors and soldiers to “stop collecting more than what is prescribed and to not practice extortion, and falsely accuse others, rather to be satisfied with their wages.”
My brothers and sisters, as we draw closer to the birth of Christ on Christmas Day, let us work harder this Advent season to bring the happiness and joy of God into our lives first and then, into our world by praying constantly and consistently; by being generous and charitable and by being just and honest in our dealings with others.
