Rejoice! Homily for Sunday December 16, 2024

Rejoice! But how is it we rejoice in a world where there are so many depressing and sad things? The gospel provides the clue. Readings for Today. Listen to our other podcasts.

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Rejoice!

The tone for the day is set in all the readings today. In the first reading, the prophet Zephaniah proclaims: “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel!” Saint Paul says in the second reading, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” And the response to our psalm is: “Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.”

The message today is to rejoice, to be glad, to exult. But so much in our world today seems sad, depressing and unjoyful. So how is it we are called to rejoice during such darkness?

Our liturgy helps us. It provides reminders that in the darkest time of the year, the light of Christ is ready to provide us joy. The vestments are not the usual purple. The lights around the Advent wreath are almost complete, filling in the darkness. Our celebration of the Incarnation, Jesus, the Son of God, becoming human is almost here.

Just as was the case when Jesus, the light of the world came into the world, there is darkness. But to see the light, we must see in Jesus the ultimate fulfillment of the promise God made to us. This promise tells us that despite all the darkness in our world, despite the brokenness and sin that is too prevalent in the world and in us, there is something much greater.

We must first realize that God made us for something much greater than what we see today. We were not created to be ordinary, but extraordinary. We were not created to be small, but grand. We were not called to be just like everyone else, but rather to invite everyone else to be like Christ.

This very invitation is what we are given in the gospel. While those asking the questions are the people of Jesus’ day, the questions are the very questions we could ask of Jesus today. “Lord, what should we do?”

Of course, in one way, the answer is simple. We are called to love God and to love our neighbor. But the real challenge is to know just what loving God and our neighbor means in concrete terms.

Saint John the Baptist reminds us to love neighbor is to be generous. “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.” And the bar for loving our neighbor is high. For however we treat those in need is how we treat Jesus himself.

“Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?” As Mother Teresa reminds us, if we have sinned, it is because we have forgotten we belong to each other.

To understand the gospel of Luke, it is important to understand the salvation of Jesus is universal. That is, Jesus wants to save everyone. The section of the gospel we read today comes right after Saint John the Baptist berates the Sadducees and Pharisees for coming out into the desert not with the desire to repent, but with the desire to place heavy burdens in peoples’ lives.

And since John the Baptist is thought to have belonged to the Essene community at Qumran, who lived in the desert, John is himself “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.” And what does he cry out? That the one who follows him, the one who will baptize with water and the Spirit, is the Promised One who is to come, the one whose sandal strap John is not fit to untie.

If salvation is universal, so too is the need for everyone to answer this question, “What should we do?” What is clear to me is how hard it can be to love everyone. I don’t like the person who might cut me off in traffic. I don’t like the coworker who may not work hard. I don’t like to have to look at those who do not have a place to live or enough to eat. I don’t like to have to love my enemies who seek to do so much evil in the world.

But it is important to realize if we are to experience of the real joy of the promise of Jesus in our midst, we cannot be selective in loving our neighbor. We cannot cast away others for their needs, even for their sins, if we are not willing to do the same in our own lives. And that it not easy.

Yet Jesus is always the great Son of God who not only promises us hope, and joy, but delivers on this promise. We may feel weighed down by the burdens of our sins, but the Cross of Jesus is evidence that this burden has been taken on by Jesus. The Cross is the receipt that our debt has been paid in full.

For even if we experience in our own brokenness and sin, the mercy and love of the promised one, Jesus the Christ, is stronger. The grace of God enables us not only to experience God’s forgiveness of our sins but helps us to forgive those who sin against us. Each time we pray the “Our Father” we are reminded how important it is for us to recognize the connection between being able to receive God’s forgiveness and our own willingness to forgive.

You were made for greatness. You were deliberately made by God’s love to be great. This Third Sunday of Advent reminds us that as we approach the celebration of the Incarnation, we approach the source of our joy and greatness. The words of Saint Peter are appropriate here. He reminds us the resurrection of Jesus was preceded by sufferings and death, and so the same is true for each one of us.

He writes “In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” So, despite the darkness of the world, we can dare to hope because Jesus has saved us. He forgives our sins, will ultimately heal our brokenness and will call us to experience this new life. And this is indeed a great cause for joy in our lives.

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