Homily: 3rd Sunday in Advent

“Where’s Your Joy?”

by Fr. William Holtzinger

December 10/11, 2005

 

Today we celebrate the 3rd Sunday in Advent, a celebration that the Church calls “Gaudete Sunday.”  It is a Sunday which we are to be reminded and encouraged about joy.  The word, gaudete, translates as “rejoice” which are the first words of the entrance antiphon of the Mass on this day.  It also shows up multiple times in the readings.  The message is clearly upbeat and heartfelt.  Listen again to some of the Scriptures:

 

“I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul.”  (Is 61: 10)

 

“My spirit rejoices in God my savior.” (Luke 1:47)

“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks.”   (1 Thes. 5: 16)

We also hear how John the Baptist came to witness to the coming light of the world.  And so, the Church has set before us the challenge of joy.

Joy.  Do you have joy in your heart?  Does this time in your life, this time of the year bring you joy?  It may be very difficult to imaging having joy since we are all so busy and stressed all the time.  

 

So how can we recapture joy in our hearts?  Well, remember that the source of our true joy is in God.  No other person or other thing will totally fulfill that need or fully give us peace as our Lord can.

And so what can we do to recapture that joy?  Make a gift of yourself and focus on the things that matter the most.  Let go of your anxieties and let God take over.  Take out more time to pray.  Put on uplifting and faith-lifting music if you listen to music.  Take time out to be silent and do nothing expect be open to God’s tender voice.  Let go of the things that you have no control over.  Drive in less of a hurry.  Look at people in the store and smile at them when they walk by.  Be kind to the checkout clerks at your local stores.  Pay more attention to your kids and less on their presents.  

You see, by recapturing joy in your heart, you become like John the Baptist who proclaimed the coming of Jesus.  Joy is contagious.  It is something we all want and desire to be close to.  Then you will be a voice crying out in a wilderness of our culture. You will proclaim with your life the God who humbled himself to become like us.  You will be his messenger like the angels who proclaimed on high his incarnation.  You will be his disciple, and will find courage.  You will be making straight the way of the Lord and will find Joy once again.