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 

Abide in Love

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today declare God is Love and challenge us to demonstrate this Love in action.

God is Love

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles Gentiles hear the Good News and Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit.

* [10:1–48] The narrative centers on the conversion of Cornelius, a Gentile and a “God-fearer” (see note on Acts 8:26–40). Luke considers the event of great importance, as is evident from his long treatment of it. The incident is again related in Acts 11:1–18 where Peter is forced to justify his actions before the Jerusalem community and alluded to in Acts 15:7–11 where at the Jerusalem “Council” Peter supports Paul’s missionary activity among the Gentiles. The narrative divides itself into a series of distinct episodes, concluding with Peter’s presentation of the Christian kerygma (Acts 10:4–43) and a pentecostal experience undergone by Cornelius’ household preceding their reception of baptism (Acts 10:44–48). (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 98 praises the Judge of the World.

* [Psalm 98] A hymn, similar to Ps 96, extolling God for Israel’s victory (Ps 98:1–3). All nations (Ps 98:4–6) and even inanimate nature (Ps 98:7–8) are summoned to welcome God’s coming to rule over the world (Ps 98:9). (Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB, n.d.)

The reading from the First Letter of John, declares God Is Love.

* [4:7–12] Love as we share in it testifies to the nature of God and to his presence in our lives. One who loves shows that one is a child of God and knows God, for God’s very being is love; one without love is without God. The revelation of the nature of God’s love is found in the free gift of his Son to us, so that we may share life with God and be delivered from our sins. The love we have for one another must be of the same sort: authentic, merciful; this unique Christian love is our proof that we know God and can “see” the invisible God. (1 John, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of John, Jesus' discourse teaches us to abide in His Love.

* [15:13] For one’s friends: or: “those whom one loves.” In Jn 15:9–13a, the words for love are related to the Greek agapaō. In Jn 15:13b–15, the words for love are related to the Greek phileō. For John, the two roots seem synonymous and mean “to love”; cf. also Jn 21:15–17. The word philos is used here.

* [15:15] Slaves,friends: in the Old Testament, Moses (Dt 34:5), Joshua (Jos 24:29), and David (Ps 89:21) were called “servants” or “slaves of Yahweh”; only Abraham (Is 41:8; 2 Chr 20:7; cf. Jas 2:23) was called a “friend of God.” (John, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB, n.d.)

George Butterfield comments that St. John tells us something important about love; it requires action.

God didn’t just say, “I love you.” We like to say that talk is cheap. He did something when he sent Jesus “as expiation for our sins.” You don’t “reveal” love for another with warm feelings and words only, although words are better than nothing. You reveal love by actions. “God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.” I strive to demonstrate love for my wife. She especially senses that love when I cook dinner, feed the dogs, or do the dishes. Those are simple things around our house, but they spell love. I am a knucklehead, and it has taken me years to find this out. What actions say “I love you” to the ones we love? (Butterfield, 2024)

Don Schwager quotes “Love encompasses the other commandments,” by Ephrem the Syrian (306-373 AD.

"This is my commandment." Have you then only one precept? This is sufficient, even if it is unique and so great. Nevertheless he also said, "Do not kill" (Matthew 19:18) because the one who loves does not kill. He said, "Do not steal," because the one who loves does even more - he gives. He said, "Do not lie," for the one who loves speaks the truth, against falsehood. "I give you a new commandment" (John 13:14). If you have not understood what "This is my commandment" means, let the apostle be summoned as interpreter and say, "The goal of his commandment is love" (1 Timothy 1:5). What is its binding force? It is that of which [the Lord] spoke, "Whatever you want others to do to you, you should do also" (Matthew 7:12)."Love one another" in accordance with this measure, "as I have loved you." That is not possible, for you are our Lord who loves your servants. But we who are equals, how can we love one another as you have loved us? Nevertheless, he has said it... His love is that he has called us his friends. If we were to give our life for you, would our love be equal to yours?... How then can what he said be explained, "As I have loved you"? "Let us die for each other," he said. As for us, we do not even want to live for one another! "If I, who am your Lord and God, die for you, how much more should you die for one another." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 19.13) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 John 4:7-10 comments that Peter was doing what Jesus had commanded when he said, “Love one another as I love you” (John 15:12). He was laying down his life for these former enemies by listening to the Spirit’s leading, taking the time to journey to Caesarea, entering the centurion’s house, and then going out on a limb to baptize Gentiles.

Each day we are presented with opportunities to lay down our lives for one another out of love. It might cost us our time or our energy. It might require courage, patience, or forbearance. We might have to step out in faith. But as we do these things—even those that seem routine or mundane—we are making the abstract truth that “God is love” into a living reality. We are revealing God’s love to the world.

“Holy Spirit, open my eyes to those times today when I can love someone as you have loved me.” (Meditation on 1 John 4:7-10, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler recalls Peter’s vision of unclean animals prior to his visit to the “God fearer” Cornelius who is baptized by the Holy Spirit and water. Acts tells us how the Holy Spirit organizes the Growth of the Church. Friar Jude reminds us to reflect on expiation of our sins as the greatest love of God for us shown by Jesus on the Cross.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, considers how the spiritual journey of “homecoming” requires holding the tension between the past and future.

To understand better, let’s look at the telling word homesick. This usually connotes something sad or nostalgic, an emptiness that looks either backward or forward for satisfaction. I am going to use it in an entirely different way. I want to propose that we are both sent and drawn by the same force, which is precisely what Christians mean when they say the Cosmic Christ is both alpha and omega. We are both driven and called forward by a kind of deep homesickness, it seems. There is an inherent and desirous dissatisfaction that both sends and draws us forward, and it comes from our original and radical union with God. What appears to be past and future is in fact the same home, the same call, and the same God, for whom ‘‘a thousand years are like a single day’’ (Psalm 90:4) and a single day like a thousand years. (Rohr, n.d.)

We contemplate the action that the Spirit calls us to engage in that makes the Love that is God visible to people in our environment.

References

Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 5, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/10?25 

Butterfield, G. (2024, May 4). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved May 5, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/050524.html 

John, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 5, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/15?9 

Meditation on 1 John 4:7-10. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved May 5, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/05/05/949214/ 

1 John, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 5, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1john/4?7 

Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 5, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/98?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Holy Homesickness. Wikipedia. Retrieved May 5, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/holy-homesickness/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). I Have Called You Friends. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 5, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=may5