Advent III Sunday C

Zeph. 3:14-18a,: Phil. 4:4-7,Gosple: Lk 3:10-18

A few years ago The Reader’s Digest reported the story of an attractive and successful business woman who noticed a small lump behind her ear as she was brushing her hair one morning. As the days went on, she noticed that the lump was getting larger, so she decided to see her doctor. Her worst fears were confirmed. The doctor told her that the lump was a large tumor that would require immediate surgery. When she awoke following the surgery, she found her entire head wrapped like that of a mummy. She could see herself in a mirror only through two tiny holes cut into the wrapping. When the bandages were removed after a week she was shocked to see that her once attractive features had become disfigured by a facial paralysis caused perhaps by damage to facial nerves during the removal of the tumor. Standing before the mirror, she told herself that she had to make a choice whether to laugh or to cry. She decided to laugh. Although the various therapies tried were unsuccessful in alleviating the facial paralysis, the decision to laugh in the face of adversity allowed this woman to carry on with her life with joy, giving encouragement to those with similar paralysis.
Today is “Gaudete” Sunday. Today we light the rose candle of the Advent wreath, and the celebrants wear rose vestments to express our communal joy in the coming of Jesus, as our Savior. The rose color signifies "rejoicing." Advent is a time for joy, not because we are anticipating the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, but because God is already in our midst. Christian joy does not come from the absence of sorrow, pain or trouble, but from an awareness of the presence of Christ within our souls.
St. Paul tells us to "rejoice in the Lord always." He doesn't say, "rejoice when things go your way." Or "rejoice when you are feeling good." No, he simply says, "rejoice always." Why it is necessary for a Christian to always rejoice.


St. Paul himself gives the reason in the second sentence: "Your kindness should be known to all." Inner joy leads to kindness.* The person who goes around sullen, angry and bitter has a hard time treating others with kindness. On the contrary, the angry person often treats others harshly. St. Paul presents joy, constant joy, as not just a good thing, but as a duty.

The people in today's Gospel think John the Baptist must be the Christ, when all he is doing is telling them things they already know. The tax collectors know they shouldn't cheat their own people. The soldiers know they shouldn't practice extortion. But hearing it out of someone else's mouth is challenging. John isn't calling them to a radically different life. He doesn't tell the tax collectors to stop collecting taxes. He doesn't tell the soldiers to give up soldiering. He simply calls them to do what they already know to be right.
There's nothing foolish in these people's wanting to go to someone who sees their moral situation more clearly and can say the things they know to be true, but have conveniently forgotten. And they respond to being recalled to themselves, reminded of what they already know, with a certain kind of awe.
John, however, knows that that will not be enough on its own, that what he offers is not the transformation that they really need. Repentance, which is John's message, is a very important part of what we all need, but it will only be part of what will save us.
We are waiting with eager anticipation for the coming of Jesus Christ at Christmas because God in Christ is offering us far more than that. Jesus is not just setting us back on our feet, recalling us to the faithful following of God's law. He is doing that, but he offers so much more. Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire. That baptism is much more than a sign of repentance, much more even that a simple forgiveness of sins, if by that we just mean a wiping of the slate clean. We're not just set back on our feet: the love of God is poured into our hearts.

Repentance is not just changing our minds, or feeling sorry for something that we have done, or even making bold resolves that we will never participate in certain conduct again. Instead, repentance means to turn around and go in another direction. The prodigal son realized of his wrong when he was living with the pigs, but he did not stay there realizing that, he walked towards the home, to meet the Father. What John the Baptist wanted his audience to hear was: Not just repent of your sins but Turn your life toward this one called Messiah as well. This is not negative or down-faced. Rather, it breaks the chains of oppression and death that hold us back. So repentance is for rejoicing. Repent Your Way to a Merry Christmas.

We are all to a greater or lesser degree tax collectors and sinners. They had the honesty to admit it and asked John what they should do in order to be ready to welcome the Messiah. Let us ask today what we should do if we mean to welcome Christ sincerely at Christmas. The secret of happiness consists in being faithful to one’s commitments and responsibilities while at the same time enjoying life. It is easy to be happy when we are doing what we want. But to find happiness in what we have to do is a blessing from God. As Mother Teresa says, “Do small things but with great love.” Let us rejoice and enable others to rejoice following the words of John the Baptist during this advent season.