HOMILY FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C

 

DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY. 

Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch

Scriptural Texts: Zephaniah 3:14-18a, Philippians 4:4-7, Luke 3:10-18

 

On this third Sunday of Advent also known as Gaudete Sunday, we notice a change of mood. The austerity of what can be a somber, though hope-filled penitential season is replaced by a shift of emphasis on joy. In the first reading, Zephaniah calls on the timid and disheartened people of Jerusalem to “shout for joy, to rejoice, exult with all your heart” (Zeph. 3:14). In the second reading, St. Paul tells the fearful and quarrelsome Philippians to be always happy in the Lord (Phil. 4:4). It is this same invitation from Paul that forms the words of the entrance antiphon of today’s Mass.

But how can we rejoice in the face of all the evil things happening in our world today? The uncertainties and difficulties of the times in which we live offer us no reason to be joyful; times in which innocent students are bullied to death by their schoolmates; times in which people are no longer free to travel on our roads because of insecurity; times in which human life is treated with violence and contempt; times in which the Covid-19 variants keep mutating and menacing the world; and times in which many families are without food due to the increasing rise in price of essential commodities in the market.

It is true that these situations do not call for joy but that does not mean that we should dismiss the invitation of today’s readings to be joyful. Paul urges the Philippians to be ‘happy in the Lord’. The happiness he refers to is the fruit of our relationship with the Lord. This is not a naive kind of happiness that is blissfully unaware of the darker side of life or untouched by the hardship and suffering that is all around us today. Indeed, at the time Paul was exalting the Philippians to be ‘happy in the Lord’, he himself was having a very difficult time, locked up in the prison. Paul had many reasons to be sad and discouraged but he chose otherwise.

Paul shows us by his own example that, even in the midst of difficulties, loss and brokenness, it is possible for those who believe in Christ to be joyful. The source of Paul’s joy is his realization that, in the words of the reading, ‘The Lord is very near’. This is also the reason why Zephaniah in the first reading called on the people of Jerusalem to rejoice, ‘The Lord is in your midst’. The Lord of life is always with us, especially during those times when the world offers us reasons to be sad and when the path we take is something of a way of the cross. As believers, we always live our lives ‘in the Lord’, as Paul puts it.

Paul reminds us that even when, from a human perspective, we may have many reasons to be sad, the power of the Lord’s risen life, the power of the Holy Spirit, is at work within us, and in opening ourselves to that power, we can experience a joy that the world cannot give. Prayer is a privileged time for opening ourselves to the power of the risen Lord. Paul says in our reading this morning, ‘if there is anything you need pray for it’. Let us pray on this Sunday that the coming of the Lord may transform our gloom into joy, despair into hope, fear into courage and our afflictions into peace.

In the gospel reading, when people came up to John the Baptist asking, ‘What must we do?’ he called on them to relate to others generously and justly. This is the kind of living that leaves us joyful and fills others with joy. It is in giving that we receive, in serving others that we find our joy. The Lord, the Spirit, whom we invite into our lives, will always prompt us to look outwards, beyond ourselves, to others. When Paul was writing from prison, he was more concerned about the Philippians than about himself. Christmas is a time when we are invited to reach out beyond ourselves to others more than we usually do. We gain joy and happiness by giving same to others.