3^rd Sunday of Advent (B); December 17, 2017

Is 61:1-2a, 10-11   (Ps) Lk 1:46-50, 53-54

1 Thes 5:16-24   Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison; SJB

 

                        Advent is not a time of waiting for the coming of the Christ child—that already happened 2017 years ago. It’s rather a time in which we break our normal routine and move into a heightened state of alertness to perceive more intensely the ways of Emmanuel, “God is with us.” We do not prepare for Christmas in dread for some inevitable outcome nor for the appearance of a stranger. Rather, it is the attentive listening for the familiar footstep of the returning Beloved who has been loving us from the very moment of our conception and even before that. On this, the 3^rd Sunday of Advent, the Liturgy now calls us an interior attitude of joy.

The human heart desires joy. We all want to be happy. We need to ask ourselves, what makes us full of joy? Each day we may experience something that amazes us or something that inspires us or something that touches us. These encounters mirror the source of our ultimate joy which is simply being close to God and seeing and feeling him present in our daily experiences. The French Jesuit, Teilhard de Chardin, a scientist and theologian, once said that “Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God.” Our hearts will burst with joy as we experience Jesus, who is God’s love incarnate.

Brothers and sisters, from the moment Jesus entered into our history in the little town of Bethlehem, humanity received the seed of the Kingdom of God. We are the soil that has received the seed, which promises us an incredible harvest of eternal life. We don’t have to look further! We have everything we need to be happy right here and now. Why? The Risen Christ is alive and he is present within and among us. And, when we dwell within Jesus—moving and living and having our being in him—we will be joyful to the very core of our being.

This is not just a hopeful joy that someday I’ll be happy or that joy is postponed until I enter paradise. Those attitudes imply that life here on earth is drudgery and a hard slog through the muck. And, if I can just gut it out, just get through this sad existence, then joy awaits me after I die. No! that’s not it! Advent is not celebrating a postponed joy, but a joy that is already real—right HERE, right NOW! It is tangible, it is available now because Jesus himself is our joy, and He is with us always.

As baptized Christians, as daughters and sons of Holy Mother the Church, we are called to accept anew the presence of God among us because the Church is the mystical Body of Christ. And, since we experience the presence of God among us, we’re called as missionary disciples, to help others to discover Jesus so that their joy may be full. Maybe they once knew Jesus, but have forgotten him or become disinterested as they pursued false gods with their empty promises. We can help them rediscover what they have forgotten. Isn’t that a beautiful mission that we’ve been entrusted?   We are like modern day John the Baptists as our heavenly Father is depending upon us to direct people to his beloved Son, Jesus, who is the Alpha and Omega: he is the firstborn of all Creation and he is our destination to whom our hearts naturally gravitate when we seek joy and happiness.

So, we’re meant to be missionaries of joy. St. Paul in his 1^st Letter to the Thessalonians lays out the conditions for being a joyful missionary: (1) praying constantly, (2) always giving thanks to God for everything we are and everything we have; (3) surrendering to the Spirit, (4) seeking the good and avoiding evil (5:17-22). If we live this way, then the Good News will be able to enter our hearts so that others can rediscover that Jesus is Immanuel, God among us; that he is the sole and universal Savior of all mankind.

Brothers and sisters, at our baptism we were anointed. Anointed for what purpose? Like John the Baptist we are sent to bring the Good News to others. Specifically, to whom?   The answer is simple—to those in need. In the first reading from the prophet Isaiah we heard that the anointed are sent “To the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Is 61:1-2).

This was the vocation of Christ Jesus and it is our vocation as well because we are members of his Body, the Church. So, we go to others, to those in need, whether those needs be material, psychological, or spiritual. So many people suffer from anxiety, resentment, and sadness, which is no way to live. But, as we experience the joy of Jesus, we can bring peace to people who are hurting; we can bring the Good News of Jesus to them; we can bring the balm of His merciful love and forgiveness to them which can release them from their bondage.

So, in order for us to experience joy in preparation for Christmas let us bear witness that Jesus is not a person of the past. Rather, he is the Word of God who continues to illuminate the Way home. He speaks to us through Scripture which enables us to enter into God’s Mind so that we can think and live as God does. He touches us through the concrete gestures of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, which are a manifestation of his tenderness, consolation, and love that our Father bears for every human being. He is ever present to us in the most intimate way. He liberates us, so we will be free and joyful and share that joy with others.   Amen.