Third Sunday of Advent

Dominica III Adventus C
12 December 2021

The change of vestment color for this weekend and the permission to decorate the sanctuary with flowers serve as a visual reminder that half of Advent is in the past.  The color rose – rose being traditionally associated with joy – and the repeated message of the Scriptures call us to rejoice.  And so, this day has been called in Latin “Gaudete Sunday” or “Rejoice Sunday.”  That thematic title for this Sunday comes from the words of the entrance antiphon, which we chanted at the beginning of this Holy Mass: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.”  This weekend the Church calls us to step up our joy because we have completed half of this holy season and are drawing near to the celebration of the source of our joy, the birth of Christ Jesus.

The brief book of the Prophet Zephaniah, our first reading, demonstrates the hope of God’s people that there would be fulfillment of God’s promise that “the King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst.”  This promise that the Lord will come among his people and be in their midst has always held for the Church a Marian significance.  When we celebrate Mary’s role in salvation history it is common that this first reading is chosen since, through Mary and her cooperation in faith, God’s Son literally comes into our midst.  The mere hope of the fulfilment of this promise was already a source of joy for God’s people in the Old Covenant.  We who live in the time of the New Covenant can embrace an even more confident joy in that this promise has been fulfilled and God, our Savior, has come to us.  One of our focuses in Advent is that very reality, the first coming of our Savior, whose birth we are preparing to observe with renewed faith.

 Yet, for us too, like God’s people in the time of the Prophet Zephaniah, we await a promise to be fulfilled.  Zephaniah also prophesied about a coming day of the Lord, a day of wrath and judgment.  In fact, Zephaniah’s description of this day of wrath has inspired in large part the liturgical texts and poetry that we use for requiem or funeral Masses, especially the composition of the hymn Dies Irae, the Day of Wrath.  That coming day of the Lord, the day of judgment, is our second focus in the season of Advent.  We who exist in the New Covenant, seek to renew our faith in celebrating the first arrival of God’s presence in the midst of His people, that is His coming in our flesh and His birth in time.  But we also must prepare and look ahead – even looking ahead with joy – for the fulfillment of a promise still awaited, that is the Lord’s return in glory when he will usher in the fullness of his Kingdom.

 It may seem odd to look forward with joy to the coming day of glory and judgment.  Yet, that is our task in faith.  Our joy for the return of the Lord in glory can find its place in God’s tender care and love for His people.  We see that tender care in the terms commonly used to refer collectively to God’s people.  Borrowing the name of the location of the original citadel of David, named Zion, and later called Jerusalem, a poetic personification comes to be used to refer to God’s people as a beloved daughter.  The Prophet Zephaniah uses those terms – “daughter Zion” and “daughter Jerusalem” – calling God’s people to shout for joy even as they await both the coming of the Lord into their midst and the coming day of wrath.

 Those incorporated into the Church by faith and baptism, and who maintain that life of grace, are the fulfillment of daughter Zion and daughter Jerusalem.  The Church is thus viewed and referred to as the new heavenly city, the dwelling place of God with His people.  We have joy as we prepare to celebrate God’s birth among us at Christmas.  And we have joy as we still await and must prepare for God’s return in glory as our Judge.  Why or how do we have joy as we prepare for His return?  We have joy because we are called to view the Lord’s return as an opportunity for the fulfillment of our eternal dwelling and communion with God in His Kingdom.  To be able to look ahead with joy to the Lord’s return should fill us with the same expectation that prompted those listening to St. John the Baptist’s preaching to ask, “What should we do?”

 St. John the Baptist’s response highlights the moral response that must be part of our preparation for the Lord’s return.  And if we will seek to make a moral response by the choices we make in our living as disciples, then we can have joy as we await the Lord’s return.  Too often we can be lulled into a false notion that approaches our life as disciples and our preparation for the Lord’s return in a far too static way.  A brute way to say this is that we don’t have an authentic and lasting joy in waiting for the Lord’s judgment if we live as if having once been baptized and showing up for Mass means we have accomplished the heights of sanctity.  No, we have joy in our looking forward to the Lord’s return by living a dynamic moral life, by reforming our sinful ways, and by living for others.  That fulfillment and satisfaction you experience in serving the less fortunate and providing for someone who has less material means (which we do so easily at this time of year), that can serve as an indication and a reminder that we can live in joy by serving others and putting away sin from our lives.  All manner of people asked St. John the Baptist, “What should we do?”  All people from the Gospel reading, even those known as notorious sinners, such as tax collectors, and those known to exercise power and manipulation, such as soldiers, all have a place in the joy of awaiting the Lord if they will turn from sin and live a more dynamic moral life.  And that’s the lesson for us too.

 Our Advent focus is not only the joy of celebrating the Lord’s birth at Christmas but it is also a call to have joy in living our life and communion with the Lord now, even as we await that mysterious day of glory and judgment that will come.  We can prepare for that day with joy by seeking to be better grain (to borrow a gospel image), better wheat for the Lord, while separating the chaff from our lives through repentance and better moral living.  And then, as beloved sons and daughters of the Church, the new Jerusalem, and free from anxiety we can respond to the charge of St. Paul in the second reading, which forms the theme for this Sunday: “Rejoice in the Lord always, I shall say it again: rejoice!”