Joy kindness peace and justice

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for the celebration of  “Gaudete” Sunday, lead us from prophetic proclamations of joy, through exhortations to kindness and generosity, to resolution to do the best we can in harmony with Jesus as our companion.

Joy in December

The Prophet Zephaniah declares rejoicing as Judah is restored after being subjected by other nations.

The Prophet Isaiah expresses a song of thanksgiving for the restorative action of the Lord.

* [12:1–6] Israel’s thanksgiving to the Lord, expressed in language like that of the Psalms.2

In the Letter to the Philippians, Paul connects joy to kindness, consideration, and forbearance.

* [4:5] Kindness: considerateness, forbearance, fairness. The Lord is near: most likely a reference to Christ’s parousia (Phil 1:6, 10; 3:20–21; 1 Cor 16:22), although some sense an echo of Ps 119:151 and the perpetual presence of the Lord.3

In the Gospel of Luke, John the Baptist calls for a gentle conversion of our attitudes toward generosity and justice as we anticipate Jesus and the Holy Spirit as our guides.

The word of God came to John: Luke is alone among the New Testament writers in associating the preaching of John with a call from God. Luke is thereby identifying John with the prophets whose ministries began with similar calls. In Lk 7:26 John will be described as “more than a prophet”; he is also the precursor of Jesus (Lk 7:27), a transitional figure inaugurating the period of the fulfillment of prophecy and promise.4

Chas Kestermeier, S.J. comments that prophet’s foretelling had that same double nature of the direct applicability and then the far deeper meaning. Today's first reading, from Zephaniah, and the “psalm” (actually from Isaiah 12), are good examples of this.  God's word eventually gave shape to Israel's hope for a Messiah and, as always, He delivered more than we expected, Jesus, the gift that never stops giving.

And this is the joy and amazement that we celebrate today as we see God's love coming to light...  This is why we rejoice, why we celebrate “Gaudete” Sunday.  If we truly have faith in God and His promises and place all our hope in Him and not in ourselves, if we seek to imitate the Father and the Son and the Spirit in being nothing but love focused beyond ourselves, we must be the Alleluia people we proclaim ourselves to be at the Easter Vigil, light in the darkness, pointing to the Eternal Light.
Be joy then, be love and hope for the world in the name of the Lord whom we await.5

Don Schwager quotes “Jesus baptizes Christians with the Holy Spirit and fire”, by Cyril of Jerusalem, 430-543 A.D.

"John, filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, was sanctified for the purpose of baptizing the Lord. John himself did not impart the Spirit but preached the glad tidings of him who does. He says, 'I indeed baptize you with water, for repentance. But he who is coming after me, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire' (Luke 3:16, Matthew 3:11). Why fire? Because the descent of the Holy Spirit was in fiery tongues [at Pentecost Acts 2:3]. Concerning this the Lord says with joy, 'I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish that it would be kindled!' (Luke 12:49)" (excerpt from CATECHETICAL LECTURES 17.8)6

The Word Among Us Meditation on Philippians 4:4-7 asks how did Paul maintain a joyful disposition?

he rejoiced because he knew Jesus’ love. If you backup just two chapters in this letter, you’ll see him singing a hymn that extols Jesus’ willingness to empty himself, become a man, and die on the cross (Philippians 2:7-8). And then in the next chapter, he writes, “I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8). The thought of Jesus’ love—a love that gives of itself freely—continually filled Paul with joy.7

Friar Jude Winkler connects the joy of the Hebrew Prophets to experiencing God in the midst of Israel. Joy is not the normal reaction to being in prison and suffering persecution. Friar Jude finds a directive to do the best we can in the call to conversion by John the Baptist to the sinners in his audience.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, founded the Center for Action and Contemplation in 1987 because he saw a deep need for the integration of both action and contemplation. Over the years, he met many social activists who were doing excellent social analysis and advocating for crucial justice issues, but they were not working from an energy of love. They were still living out of their false self with the need to win, the need to look good—attached to a superior, politically correct self-image. He cites Thomas Keating, “Open Mind, Open Heart,” on how the effectiveness of action depends on the source from which it springs.

If we are going to have truly prophetic people who go beyond the categories of liberal and conservative, we have to teach them some way to integrate their needed activism with a truly contemplative mind and heart. I’m convinced that once you learn how to look out at life from the contemplative eyes of the True Self, your politics and economics are going to change on their own. I don’t need to teach you what your politics should or shouldn’t be. Once you see things contemplatively, you’ll begin to seek the bias from the bottom instead of the top, you’ll be free to embrace your shadow, and you can live at peace with those who are different. From a contemplative stance, you’ll know what action is yours to do—and what is not yours to do—almost naturally.8

As we continue our journey in the joy of our relationship with Jesus, we find peace in doing what we can do as we give thanks for the fire of Baptism that generates and sustains our enthusiasm.

References

1	(n.d.). Zephaniah, chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 16, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/zephaniah/3
2	(n.d.). Isaiah chapter 12 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 16, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah12:38
3	(n.d.). Philippians chapter 4 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 16, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/scripture.cfm?bk=philippians&ch=4&v=027
4	(n.d.). Luke, chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 16, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/3
5	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved December 16, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
6	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 16, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
7	(n.d.). 3rd Sunday of Advent - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily Meditations .... Retrieved December 16, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
8	(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 16, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/