3rd Sunday of Advent Year C 2024

Rejoice in the Lord for He is near. That is the general sentiment for this weekend’s liturgy. The title Gaudete Sunday is derived from the Latin antiphon: Gaudéte in Dómino semper: íterum dico, gaudéte. In English, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice”. The antiphon itself is taken from the Letter of St Paul to the Philippians. It echoes the joy that comes with Christ’s nearness and it is aptly reflected in the colour of the vestment. We dare to be joyful even in the midst of our penitential preparation because our Salvation is near.

The basis for this joy harkens us back to the moments of the Annunciation and the Visitation. In the former, Mary is visited by the Archangel and given the good news of Christ’s taking flesh in her womb. As a response, she goes to visit Elizabeth her cousin, who at that time, was already pregnant with John in her womb. The elated embrace between the two exhilarating mothers merely hides a far more profound cosmic drama. The Preface for the Nativity of John the Baptist states that “His birth brought great rejoicing; even in the womb he leapt for joy at the coming of human salvation”. Somehow I still prefer the pre-2011 translation because it is more poetic in expressing proximity for “even in the womb he leapt for joy, so near was man’s salvation”. An analogy is going to a durian farm and as you approach the farm, the ripening durian already exudes the fragrance (or the stench) we are familiar with that in smelling you can almost taste the durian.

Thus, the question is how often we recognise that Christ is near to us or that He is already in our midst. Since He is in our midst, what should our response be? The people who went into the desert asked John for signs of repentance. He gave it as sharing one’s resources, cessation of plundering or pillage and being just and honest in our dealings. We are not unawares that this is Gospel requirement. The path charted by the Baptist is no less than a whole-hearted embrace of the Kingdom’s values.

The change in our life’s direction is the beginning of joy. It is derived from our desire to love God and neighbour. When we choose to love God and neighbour, we will know joy which means that this is a matter of choice, that is, one chooses to be joyful. The writer of the letter to the Hebrew exhorts us, “Let us gaze upon Jesus, as the Author and the completion of our faith, who, having joy laid out before Him, endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and who now sits at the right hand of the throne of God”. Despite the violence that Jesus had to endure, His love for His Father and His desire for our salvation became the source of His joy.

Joy is radical for it touches the core of our being. It cannot be manufactured. For example, today, it has become almost impossible to counsel a grieving parent to be joyful. When people are suffering, we naturally shy away from asking them to look beyond their grief. And yet, the very experience of Christ, according to the author of the Hebrews, reveals us that spiritual joy is not incompatible with suffering. Such joy is far remove from the present notion that equates joy as a palpable happiness. In this sense, we may have constructed a sand-castle that associates happiness as an emotion which is to be enveloped or surrounded by creatively comfort. Every advertisement suggests that. Each newer model of a car is designed to enhance our bodily pleasures. Think of camping which is not what people do today. Instead what is sold is glamping. Glamping is a portmanteau consisting of two words, glamour and camping.

Is it possible to be joyful even when not feeling it? Take a look at John the Baptist. He is living in the desert, devoid of any creaturely comfort. How is it possible that he could endure such hardship? Perhaps it was from that single encounter with the Saviour that gave consolation to sustain him, to be his strength and hope as he embraced the hardship of prophecy and finally his own beheading. It might not be easy to appreciate this but think of a man or woman who has seen someone for just a fleeting moment but from there fell in love and yet separated for almost forever. That person lives from that moment of having fallen in love. The entire epic of the Titanic was premised on that one iconic scene where Jack and Rose stood at the bow of the ship with Celine Dion belting “My heart will go on” in the background. Joy is an ability to live for that moment which sustains us for a lifetime.

However, we have become experts at living out the so-called “joyful” part of Christmas meaning we are good at embracing and enjoying all the so-called fun part so much so that we tend to forget that there is a repentance part too. Trouble begins when we reduced well-being to material expressions that it becomes almost impossible to be joyful especially in times of trouble. Joy, like peace, is not the absence of conflict or of pain. Rather it is experienced as a serenity in spite of conflict and suffering. It is an ability to persevere despite trials. As Jesus warned the apostles of their future martyrdom, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete”. John 15:11

Joy requires that we live in the present, not trapped in the past nor frightened by the future. A way of living in the past is by unforgiveness. Sometimes we are weighed down by hurts in the past and we continually hang onto them so much so that we do not know how to let go. It is sad to be burdened by what has been that one fails to see what can be. On the other hand we can also be trapped by a fear that God cannot take care of us in the future that we no longer know how to enjoy the present moment.

For the past, we take advantage of the season because it calls us to go for confession. The practice of examining our conscience daily may be a good start before we go for the Sacrament of Confession. For the future it means we become a bit more aware of the heart’s inclination to love the wrong things. When we are fearful of the future we will begin to fill the hearts with security which we might not really need. Loving the wrong things will not give us the space to be joyful and be present to the Lord.

This Sunday, choose to be joyful. It is not a feeling but rather the attitude. It is a capacity of the heart to say to God, I am here. This attitude does not require that we go away but rather be intentional in recognising that we can choose. As St Francis de Sales used to say, “Bloom where you are planted”. John the Baptist bloomed in the desert. May be we can bloom in Johor Bahru even in the shadow of a Singapore that is soon to be extinct. (According to Elon Musk).