3rd Sunday of Advent: Journeying Towards the Greatest Joy

For most Christians, this time of the year is the happiest time of the year. As the song, Deck The Halls, goes, ‘Tis the season to be jolly, Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.’

But in real life, many are poor, victims of injustice and violence, broken-hearted, captives and prisoners literally and figuratively. Thus, for many people, this is a time of depression, not of joy.  As fellow Redemptorist Fr. Oli Castor sings, ‘How can I possibly sing a joyous Christmas song when there’s so many people who know not where they belong?’

Depending on one’s circumstances, Christmas can be the celebration of joy or the sad reminder of the pains and afflictions of our lives. But even the joys we experience in Christmas are just faint reflection of how much greater joy that awaits us in the future. Christmas joys are signs or foretaste of the greatest joy that we can ever imagine. Christmas joys only point to the most joyous of all joys. Christmas joys are just a rehearsal of the much greater joy that is still to come in the fullness of time.

In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah had a taste of this most profound joy as he exclaimed, “I rejoice heartily in the Lord,” And what are the elements of this most joyous of all joys? The prophet announces the glad tidings:

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,
to announce a year of favor from the LORD
and a day of vindication by our God.

The glad tidings that the prophet proclaimed are acts of liberation which God will accomplish among his people.  This fulfillment happened when God came down from heaven and became man. Indeed, Jesus quoted this particular verse from Isaiah and made it as his own mission statement at the beginning of his public ministry (Luke 4:14-21). Jesus’ inaugural mission address in his hometown synagogue is, therefore, the source of our greatest joy. Our greatest joy which in Advent we earnestly looks forwards to is the liberating mission of God which Jesus inaugurated and enacted during his life on earth. The final fulfillment of Jesus’ mission which is our greatest joy will happen upon Jesus’ return in glory.

In the gospel today, John the Baptist appeared to the people as a sign. John the Baptist told the people that he is not the light but he is only pointing them toward the light who will be here soon. The gospel of John narrates,

A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light,
so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light,
but came to testify to the light.

We can truly experience the joy of Christmas if we become like John the Baptist. We can become like John the Baptist only if we have the humility to accept that we are not the light. We are merely signs that points towards the light. A sign is simply an object that points to something else greater than itself. As signs, we fulfill our lives by pointing to the greatest mystery of God’s kingdom unfolding in our everyday lives. As signs, we offer our lives for the greater joy of those we love and for a greater cause other than ourselves.

On this third Sunday of Advent called Gaudete (which means “Rejoice”) Sunday, we are reminded by the Church that ’tis the season to be jolly. Indeed, the joy which originated from the “word who was made flesh and dwelt among us” is truly the reason of the season. It is the same joy which emanates from the liberating acts of God which Jesus inaugurated and enacted throughout his public ministry.

It is, therefore, not the fleeting joy that serves as an escape from the sad reality of our lives, which sadly has been the scourge for many of our people come every Christmas. It is rather the profound joy borne out of God’s immersion into the messiest and muddiest experiences of our humanity. It is the joy that audaciously emits hope that make us defiant and relentless by not surrendering to all forms of oppression and captivity in this world. It is the joy which makes us existentially uneasy about the here and now. It is the joy which gives us a foretaste of the greatest joy that is still to come.

St. Paul sums it for us,

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God” (Philippians 4:4–6; Psalm 85: 1).

I am passionate about the intersection between new media and technology. I continue to research and apply new media in theology and vice-versa. I am also a fan of Our Mother of Perpetual Help and her continuing relevance in today’s digital world.
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