On the first Sunday of Advent we asked God for the grace to
prepare well during this holy season. On
the Second Sunday, last week, we heard John the Baptist urge us to make
straight the pathways for the Lord. And on this third Sunday of Advent, we are urged
as we prepare for the Lord’s coming to cultivate joy.
For today is Gaudete Sunday. And Gaudete is latin for the
rejoice. Since the time of Pope St. Gregory the Great in the sixth century, the
third Sunday of Advent has begun with that word: Gaudete. Gaudete in domino
semper, rejoice in the Lord always.
Advent purple is replaced today by Gaudete Sunday Rose, the
color of the horizon at the very start of a sunrise. We rejoice because Christ,
the Son, is almost here. His light is breaking into the world. And not simply
in some abstract way. His light is meant to be radiating from us, as we sing
and pray and prepare for Christmas and for his coming at the end of time.
Non-believers and fallen away catholics should be moved and stirred by our joy
at Christ’s coming. We are to be light for those who continue to dwell in
darkness.
I am reminded of one of the final chapters of Mark Twain’s
classic novel Tom Sawyer. The Adventurous and somewhat mischievous Tom Sawyer
and his friend Becky Thatcher go out to explore a cave outside of town. The
cave is full of dark caverns and twisting passages, and as they explore, they
end up getting lost. Fear sets in. Their candles - the only light they have -
run low. And when their candles go out. they lose track of time, they grow
hungry and desperate and start wandering through the darkness, looking for the
smallest glimpse of daylight. Three days pass when, they finally spot a
pinprick of light far in the distance, and they follow it to freedom.
The fallen human race is like Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher
lost in the dark caverns of a fallen world. They travel through dark and
twisting caverns, they are starving for God, their own light is insufficient. Only
the light of God breaking into their world can lead them to freedom.
And that light of God, dear Christians, has been given to
you and to me, to help guide souls to freedom. Advent aims at bolstering our
light. Christians who rejoice in the Lord, whose lives radiate authentic
Christian joy, become beacons of light for the world.
Sadly, we know, all too well, how Christians instead of
radiating with the light of God can do the opposite. Through our joylessness, our
sins, setting bad Christian example, instead of leading souls to God, we turn
souls away. We know, sadly, how even members of the clergy and members of the
hierarchy, can cause souls to become disgusted at being members of the Church.
So certainly we do penance during Advent to make up for scandal, and our own
failures to shine as brightly as we should.
Gaudete Sunday is certainly one of my favorite Sunday of the
Church year, because it really sums up the whole of the Christian life. There is a permanent Gaudete Sunday quality
to the whole Christian life. As we await the coming of Christ, we are to
reverberate with joy as we await the return of the Lord.
Now. I don’t know
about you, but I don’t usually equate waiting with joy. Waiting in traffic,
waiting in the doctor’s office, waiting in line at the grocery store. These are not typically joyful experiences,
are they?
But, Mother Church gives us the key to waiting in joyful
hope in our second reading today. “Be patient, brothers and sisters” he writes,
“until the coming of the Lord. See how
the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it
until it receives the early and the late rains.
You too must be patient.”
Americans are not known worldwide for their patience—it is
not our culture’s strongest virtue.
Patience with elderly relatives, patience with the kids, patience with
spouses, patience in traffic, patience during particularly verbose homilies at
Mass is not always easy. Impatience is one of the most common sins I hear in
the confessional.
So St. James says patience is practiced when we remain
focused on the good things to come. The farmer has his mind focus less on the
period of barrenness, but on the fruit of the earth to come. He understands
that grey rainy days are necessary, if he wants his crop to be healthy.
So, too, Christians practice patience by keeping our minds
and hearts focused on the Lord, particularly during times of stress and
frustration and suffering. By focusing on the light at the end of the tunnel,
Advent and the whole of the Christian life prepares us for something yet to
come. Impatience can likely be a sign that we have failed to keep our focus on
the end goal, on Christ.
The natural philosophers say patience is the habit by which
one can wait for some good without getting upset, without the loss of peace,
irritation, or anger, without complaining, bad words, and violence. Instead,
the patient person can bear “provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain,
without complaint.” A patient person can display “quiet, steady perseverance;
even-tempered care; and diligence.”
More so, the Christian virtue of patience enables us to
withstand physical and moral suffering, because our hearts and minds are fixed
on and united to Christ.
The saints teach us of the importance of patience in the
spiritual life. St. Margaret Mary said
that there is no other remedy for your ills but patience and submission to the
will of God. St. Francis de Sales said
that Jesus endured scourging and ill treatment; he endured so many blasphemies
and cruelties without saying a word, precisely to teach us patience. One spiritual
writer said that each of us has enough trials and sufferings in our life to
make us saints, if we but knew how to suffer them patiently.
I remember back in 2001 when I entered seminary. 8 years of seminary seemed like such a long
time. But those years of waiting and
preparing, letting the tradition of the Church sink in, developing the habit of
prayer, those were good years, joyful and mostly patient years. Seminary formation is meant to change a man
in preparation for a lifetime of priestly service. Sometimes that change was
hard; as you may have realized, a hard-headed Italian. But joy always came when
I surrendered and realized the Lord’s way is a lot better than my way.
So too during this life, this Advent period of waiting, the
Lord will change us, if we let him; if we patiently keep our minds and hearts
fixed on him, we will be granted the gift of joy which nothing in the world can
take away.
St. Cyprian said, “Patient waiting is necessary that we may
fulfill what we have begun to be, and through God’s help, that we may obtain
what we hope for and believe.”
In the Advent days we have left, turn to the Scriptures,
recommit to daily prayer, confess your impatience, patiently serve the poor,
that you may shine with the light of joyful hope for the glory of God and
salvation of souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment