Rejoice with Good News

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, Gaudete Sunday, declare our invitation to rejoice in our lives with Christ as we await the celebration of Jesus' birth.

Rejoice!

The reading from the Prophet Zephaniah proclaims a Song of Joy.

The title of the prophecy informs us that the ministry of Zephaniah took place during the reign of Josiah (640–609 B.C.), not long before the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. The protest against the worship of false gods and the condemnation of foreign practices (1:8–9) may indicate that Zephaniah spoke during the height of Assyrian influence in the early years of Josiah’s reign, before Josiah launched the religious reforms praised by Israel’s historians (2 Kgs 22:1–23:30). If so, the prophecy of Zephaniah would be contemporary with the early prophecy of Jeremiah, with which it shares both language and ideas. (Zephaniah, THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH | USCCB, n.d.)

h. [3:14] Zec 9:9.

i. [3:17] Jl 2:27. (Zephaniah, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)

The response from the Prophet Isaiah offers Thanksgiving and Praise.

* [12:1–6] Israel’s thanksgiving to the Lord, expressed in language like that of the Psalms. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)

The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians celebrates Joy and Peace.

* [4:4] Rejoice: see note on Phil 3:1.

* [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. (Philippians, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Luke presents the Preaching of John the Baptist.

* [3:1–20] Although Luke is indebted in this section to his sources, the Gospel of Mark and a collection of sayings of John the Baptist, he has clearly marked this introduction to the ministry of Jesus with his own individual style. Just as the gospel began with a long periodic sentence (Lk 1:1–4), so too this section (Lk 3:1–2). He casts the call of John the Baptist in the form of an Old Testament prophetic call (Lk 3:2) and extends the quotation from Isaiah found in Mk 1:3 (Is 40:3) by the addition of Is 40:4–5 in Lk 3:5–6. In doing so, he presents his theme of the universality of salvation, which he has announced earlier in the words of Simeon (Lk 2:30–32). Moreover, in describing the expectation of the people (Lk 3:15), Luke is characterizing the time of John’s preaching in the same way as he had earlier described the situation of other devout Israelites in the infancy narrative (Lk 2:25–26, 37–38). In Lk 3:7–18 Luke presents the preaching of John the Baptist who urges the crowds to reform in view of the coming wrath (Lk 3:7, 9: eschatological preaching), and who offers the crowds certain standards for reforming social conduct (Lk 3:10–14: ethical preaching), and who announces to the crowds the coming of one mightier than he (Lk 3:15–18: messianic preaching).

* [3:16] He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire: in contrast to John’s baptism with water, Jesus is said to baptize with the holy Spirit and with fire. From the point of view of the early Christian community, the Spirit and fire must have been understood in the light of the fire symbolism of the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4); but as part of John’s preaching, the Spirit and fire should be related to their purifying and refining characteristics (Ez 36:25–27; Mal 3:2–3). See note on Mt 3:11.

* [3:17] Winnowing fan: see note on Mt 3:12. (Luke, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)

Jeanne Schuler comments that by the third book, Zephaniah recovers his pastoral voice.  A prophet must not poison the people’s spirit.  Harsh threats do not bring life.  The prophet reminds the people that God is in our midst.  We are not forgotten.  “Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!”  God’s tenderness is always present.  It does not wait until we shape up and prove our worth.  We could not face our failures alone.  God is at our side and rejoices over us like parents sing to their babe.  Our being evokes God’s song of joy.

Father Greg Boyle, S.J., finds light in the darkness.  He works with young people in L.A. who have endured abandonment, abuse, neglect, prison, and violence…trauma exceeding that of soldiers back from combat.  Father Greg knows that he could never carry their burdens. Recovery at Homeboy Industries takes a path of being loved before milestones like sobriety or employment are reached.  The light is already present.  If we are mindful, we too will stand in awe. God’s splendor is here in each beloved.

Dropping this enormous inner burden of judgment allows us to make of ourselves what God wants the world to ultimately be: people who stand in awe…Readying oneself for awe, at every turn, insist that compassion is always the answer to the question before us.  (Greg Boyle, Barking to the Choir, 57). (Schuler, 2024)

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) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us  Meditation on Zephaniah 3:14-18 reminds us that today is Gaudete Sunday, a day set aside during Advent for rejoicing. Although Christmas is still ten days away, we can begin rejoicing in Jesus’ birth now. We can also look forward to Jesus’ Second Coming, when he will establish a new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1). Like the Israelites, we don’t know when that will happen, and yet we are called to rejoice in it. Why? For the same reason: because God keeps his promises.

So try to follow St. Paul’s advice from today’s second reading to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4). Rejoice that the Lord loves you so much that he became man to save you. Rejoice that he is present in the Eucharist and wants you to be with him in the closest way possible. Rejoice in anticipation of life with God forever. Choose to rejoice today, no matter how you feel. Why? Because our Lord God always keeps his promises!

“Jesus, I rejoice in you always, now and forever!” (Meditation on Zephaniah 3:14-18, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler connects the theme of rejoicing from the Book of Zephaniah to our nearness to the feast of Christmas and the end to the difficulties of Israel. Paul, writing from prison to the persecuted Philippians emphasizes that true joy comes from being where we belong following the Will of God. In the Gospel, Luke presents the advice from John the Baptist to live well as he uses matrimonial symbolism of the sandal strap to indicate that Jesus, not the Baptist, is to marry Israel as the Messiah.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes how we can discover our true identity in God. There is only one question we must definitely answer: “Who am I?” Or, restated, “Where do I abide?” If we can get that right, the rest largely takes care of itself. Paul answers the questions directly: “You are hidden with Christ in God, and Christ is your life” (Colossians 3:3–4).

We are saved by standing consciously and confidently inside the force field that is Christ, not by getting it right in our private selves. This is too big a truth for the small self to even imagine. We’re too tiny, too insecure, too ready to beat ourselves up. We don’t need to be correct, but we can always try to remain connected to our Source. The great and, for some, disappointing surprise is that many people who are not at all correct are the most connected by reason of their intense need and desire. 

All we can do is fall into the Eternal Mercy—into Love—which we can never really fall out of because “we belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God,” as Paul so beautifully stated (1 Corinthians 3:23). Eventually, we know that we are all saved by mercy in spite of ourselves. That must be the final humiliation to the ego. 

Our holiness is really only God’s holiness, and that’s why it’s certain and secure. It is a participation in love, a mutual indwelling, not an achievement or performance on our part. “If anyone wants to boast, let them boast in the Lord,” Paul shouts (1 Corinthians 1:31). (Rohr, n.d.)

We rejoice on this Sunday as we ponder the Good News of our relationship with Christ and apply the advice of the Baptist concerning our execution of our responsibilities to others.

References

Isaiah, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 15, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/12?2 

Luke, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 15, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/3?10 

Meditation on Zephaniah 3:14-18. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved December 15, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/12/15/1151874/ 

Philippians, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 15, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/philippians/4?4 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Hidden with Christ. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 15, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/hidden-with-christ-2024/ 

Schuler, J. (2024, December 15). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Retrieved December 15, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/121524.html 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). He Who Is Mightier Than I Is Coming. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 15, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=dec15 

Zephaniah, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 15, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/zephaniah/3?14 

Zephaniah, THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 15, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/zephaniah/0 

Deliverance and Testimony

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary, today, Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, invite us to express joy for the Presence of God, Incarnate as our Brother.

Rejoice!

The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah declares the Good News of Deliverance.

* [61:1–2] The prophet proclaims that he has been anointed by the Lord to bring good news (cf. 40:9) to the afflicted and to comfort Zion. The background to the “year of favor” is the jubilee year of release from debts (Lv 25:10–11; Is 49:8).

* [61:10–11] The new life of the restored Zion is expressed in nuptial (cf. also 62:5) and agricultural (cf. v. 3; 60:21) imagery. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 61 | USCCB, n.d.)

The response in Luke is Mary’s Song of Praise.

* [1:46–55] Although Mary is praised for being the mother of the Lord and because of her belief, she reacts as the servant in a psalm of praise, the Magnificat. Because there is no specific connection of the canticle to the context of Mary’s pregnancy and her visit to Elizabeth, the Magnificat (with the possible exception of v. 48) may have been a Jewish Christian hymn that Luke found appropriate at this point in his story. Even if not composed by Luke, it fits in well with themes found elsewhere in Luke: joy and exultation in the Lord; the lowly being singled out for God’s favor; the reversal of human fortunes; the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. The loose connection between the hymn and the context is further seen in the fact that a few Old Latin manuscripts identify the speaker of the hymn as Elizabeth, even though the overwhelming textual evidence makes Mary the speaker. (Luke, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

The reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians outlines Church Order and urges thanks in all circumstances.

* [5:19–21] Paul’s buoyant encouragement of charismatic freedom sometimes occasioned excesses that he or others had to remedy (see 1 Cor 14; 2 Thes 2:1–15; 2 Pt 3:1–16).

* [5:23] Another possible translation is, “May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and sanctify your spirit fully, and may both soul and body be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In either case, Paul is not offering an anthropological or philosophical analysis of human nature. Rather, he looks to the wholeness of what may be called the supernatural and natural aspects of a person’s service of God. (1 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of John shares the Testimony of John the Baptist concerning Jesus.

* [1:19] The Jews: throughout most of the gospel, the “Jews” does not refer to the Jewish people as such but to the hostile authorities, both Pharisees and Sadducees, particularly in Jerusalem, who refuse to believe in Jesus. The usage reflects the atmosphere, at the end of the first century, of polemics between church and synagogue, or possibly it refers to Jews as representative of a hostile world (Jn 1:10–11).

* [1:20] Messiah: the anointed agent of Yahweh, usually considered to be of Davidic descent. See further the note on Jn 1:41.

* [1:21] Elijah: the Baptist did not claim to be Elijah returned to earth (cf. Mal 3:19; Mt 11:14). The Prophet: probably the prophet like Moses (Dt 18:15; cf. Acts 3:22).

* [1:23] This is a repunctuation and reinterpretation (as in the synoptic gospels and Septuagint) of the Hebrew text of Is 40:3 which reads, “A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord.”

* [1:24] Some Pharisees: other translations, such as “Now they had been sent from the Pharisees,” misunderstand the grammatical construction. This is a different group from that in Jn 1:19; the priests and Levites would have been Sadducees, not Pharisees.

* [1:26] I baptize with water: the synoptics add “but he will baptize you with the holy Spirit” (Mk 1:8) or “…holy Spirit and fire” (Mt 3:11; Lk 3:16). John’s emphasis is on purification and preparation for a better baptism. (John, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Kimberly Grassmeyer comments that Isaiah's wording ensures that we won't confuse prosperity to be worldly wealth; rather, we understand it to be the prosperity of God's presence, not just with us as individuals, but with our descendants as many as grains of sand: each of us and our own, for now and into eternity.

From today's Responsorial Psalm: 

Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked...
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

Thank you, LORD, for giving these readers and all of your children the light of life, and being ever-present with us.  Throughout Advent and in preparation for Christmas, may we all be aware and give thanks to you for your light, your presence, and all of our blessings.  For those who may lack awareness of these gifts, we ask that you grant them your peace and your grace.  Amen.  (Grassmeyer, 2023)

Don Schwager quotes “The time of reckoning is the first advent of Christ,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).

"Being God by nature, the Only Begotten [Jesus Christ the Son of the Father] is the Holy of Holies, and he sanctifies all creation and so originates from the Holy Father with the Holy Spirit proceeding from him and sending in the power from above to those on earth who recognize him. How was he sanctified? For he is God and man equally; he gives the Spirit to creation but receives the Spirit on account of being human...

"'Acceptable' is that year in which we were received, when we took kinship with him, having our sins washed away through holy baptism and becoming partakers of the divine nature through the sharing of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:4). Or 'acceptable' is the year in which he revealed his glory through the divine miracle attesting the message. We received the time for salvation gladly... the day of reckoning is none other than the time of his dwelling among us in which the reckoning has been given by him to those believing in him through the promise in hope... For the Savior himself said, 'Now is the judgment of this world, now is the prince of the world cast out' (John 12:31). The time of reckoning, then, is in this manner, when Christ illuminated the world." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 5.5.61.1-3) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 comments that according to St. Thomas Aquinas, Jesus taught that “joy is caused by love” (Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 28). As we experience God’s love for us, we grow in love for him—and this exchange of love is what produces joy in us.

Joy is not just for Gaudete Sunday; it’s for every day. So each day, follow Paul’s advice: turn to the Lord in prayer, thank him for all he has done for you, and ask him to fill you with more of his Spirit. Then praise him—and let your spirit soar!

“Lord, shower me with your love today so that my heart swells with joy!” (Meditation on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes that the return of the Babylonian exiles to Jerusalem, as presented in Trito-Isaiah, was not easy and the passage from Isaiah tries to call the people to conversion. In Paul’s parenesis in 1 Thessalonians, he expresses caution towards new ideas and reminds us of the tripartite, body, soul, and Spirit in our relationship with God. Friar Jude identifies the matrimonial symbolism in John’s Gospel in the declaration of the Baptist that he is not worthy to undue the strap of the Bridegroom’s sandal.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes why Christmas and celebrating the Incarnation of Jesus is foundational to Franciscan spirituality.

Francis realized that since God had become flesh—taken on materiality, physicality, humanity—then we didn’t have to wait for Good Friday and Easter to “solve the problem” of human sin: the problem was solved from the beginning. It makes sense that Christmas became the great celebratory feast of Christians because it basically says that it’s good to be human, it’s good to be on this Earth, it’s good to have a body, it’s good to have emotions. We don’t need to be ashamed of any of it! God loves matter and physicality.

With that insight, it’s no wonder Francis went wild over Christmas. (I do too—my little house is filled with candles at Christmastime.) Francis believed that trees should be decorated with lights to show their true status as God’s creations, and that’s exactly what we still do eight hundred years later.

And there’s more: when we speak of Advent or preparing for Christmas, we’re not just talking about waiting for the little baby Jesus to be born. That already happened two thousand years ago. In fact, we’re welcoming the Universal Christ, the Cosmic Christ, the Christ that is forever being born (incarnating) in the human soul and into history. (Rohr, 2023)

We pause today and rejoice in the meaning of the Incarnation and our thanksgiving for the intimate love of God for humanity and ourselves.

References

Grassmeyer, K. (2023, December 17). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved December 17, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/121723.html 

Isaiah, CHAPTER 61 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 17, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/61?1 

John, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 17, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/1?6 

Luke, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 17, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/1?46 

Meditation on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved December 17, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/12/17/849790/ 

1 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 17, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1thessalonians/5?16 

Rohr, R. (2023, December 17). Celebrating Incarnation — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC Daily Meditations 2023. Retrieved December 17, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/celebrating-incarnation/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Lord Has Clothed Me with the Garments of Salvation and Righteousness. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 17, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=dec17