Let’s be honest. We are far from peace. Even what we have thought as “peace” does not last long. It comes and goes. The world we live in has been plagued with conflicts and wars that come and go in a cyclical way.
In fact, we are more in distress during Advent season. Many of us have been so stressed out with “Christmas holiday preparation”. Students are generally stressed out with final exams.
But is this how we should spend Advent season?
Advent is a designated time to prepare for the coming of Christ. We must be vigilant, as reminded by the Gospel Reading of the First Sunday of Advent (Luke 21:25-28, 34-36) because nobody knows when and where Christ will come, whenever he returns. And there is no way of knowing when exactly he will come to our hearts this year, though we celebrate the Nativity of the Lord on December 25. As a matter of fact, December 25 may not be the day that the incarnated Christ was born of Mary, as it is rather arbitrary. The truth is that nobody knew exact date of the incarnate Christ’s birth and it was not explicitly written in the scriptures, except that it was during the reign of Caesar Augustus and when Quirinius was governor of Syria (Luke 2:1-2). However, upon Constantine’s conversion to Christianity around 312 AD, the Roman celebration of the birth of sol Invictus on December 25 was replaced with the birth of the incarnated Christ to preempt the pagan worship, as decreed by the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 AD.
Besides vigilance (Luke 21:36), we need to listen to John the Baptist, who is the herald of Christ, in regard to our preparation for the coming of Christ. And it is through our penance and conversion so that the way of Christ’s coming to our hearts become smooth and straight, as reminded by the Gospel Reading of the Second Sunday of Advent (Luke 3:1-6).
Vigilance from the First Sunday and conversion through penance from the Second Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent is about rejoicing over Christ’s coming in anticipation.
In the First Reading (Zephaniah 3:14-18a), we hear God calling Jerusalem to rejoice with God for He will renew her in His love, as Josiah’s kingship brought Jerusalem back to God. God was so pleased with Josiah’s efforts to reform Jerusalem and the rest of Judah after years of apostatic stance from God by his predecessors. It was so bad to the point of being indifferent even the Torah was missing. However, during Josiah’s reign, the Torah was discovered (Kings 22:8-13), and this prompted Josiah’s reform to bring Jerusalem and the rest of Judah closer to God by abiding by the Law.
Zephaniah prophesized during Josiah’s reign as king of Judah (640-609BC).
As we read this text, Jerusalem to rejoice with God is us, for Jerusalem symbolizes us as the Church.
An important lesson from Zephaniah’s prophecy in the First Reading (Zephaniah 3:14-18a) is that God rejoices over us, as the judgement imposed on us is removed by Him and we are renewed in His love. Indeed, it is joy to God as we are brought back to God as we turn ourselves away from sins. The love of God that renew us comes to us as sanctifying grace so that we can be not only in state of grace but we can be sanctified. Namely, it puts us on the way to be holy and to become saints in heaven.
As we repent and convert and are in the state of grace, God is found in our midst, rejoicing over us (Zephaniah 3:17). Then, we enjoy His providence, keeping us in peace, free from stress and anxiety (Zephaniah 3:18). And this is what Zephaniah calls us to rejoice over (Zephaniah 3:14).
It is important to remember that Zephaniah’s prophecy to rejoice with God was contingent upon Judah’s repentance and conversion away from sins back to God through Josiah’s reform (2 Kings 22:1-23:25). Also, the joy that God shared with Jerusalem and the rest of Judah (Zephaniah 3:14-18) did not last long as Judah returned to sins after Josiah’s death and sin of Manasseh was too great to be forgiven by God and kings of Judah after Josiah did evil in the eyes of God, leading to the destruction of Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:26-25:21).
This is a very important lesson to carry through as we are in anticipatory joy over the nearness of Christ’s arrival, because we want the joy to be everlasting. And it only comes through Christ and the Holy Spirit.
The permanent joy is addressed in the Second Reading (Philippians 4:4-7).
Paul wrote from a prison:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:4-7).
Note that Paul calls us to rejoice always. It means to rejoice regardless of our life situations. It means that we still rejoice even though we are suffering. Our joy as Christians is not circumstantial at all. This is not one of those joys we feel when life is going as we want it. This joy has nothing to do with life circumstances and world situation. This is the joy that we can attain even amidst of war, even it may seem endless. This is why Paul also calls us not to have anxiety and enjoy God’s surpassing peace to guard our hearts and minds.
Is such a joy that is not affected by our emotions and circumstances possible?
Yes, according to Paul.
Paul was in constant joy even though he was imprisoned, because he convincingly recognized the nearness of Christ (Philippians 4:5). In other words, his joy was anticipatory because it came from Christ, whose second coming that Paul was convinced. Because there is the Parakletos parallel between Christ and the Holy Spirit (i.e. 1 John 2:1; John 14:16), joy, along with peace and love, stems from the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
And this anticipatory joy becomes constant joy that cannot be affected by circumstances, as we are in Christ and his love (John 5:10-11). This also means that Christ is in us (i.e. John 14:20; 17:23). Being in Christ and Christ in us means peace that only he can give (i.e. John 14:27).Ti
Then, the way to attain this constant joy is through our acts of kindness and prayer with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:5-6).
This means that we must commit ourselves to acts of kindness, in way of loving our neighbors (Leviticus 19:18), as we love God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with our all strengths (Deuteronomy 6:5), for these commandments are supreme (Mark 12:28-31).
For us to attain permanent joy, along with love and peace, as the fruit of the Holy Spirit, we must receive Christ in our hearts upon his arrival. This is why we listen to John the Baptist, who calls us to repent and remove all obstacles to Christ’s coming, such as pride and greed, which leads us to sin, so the way of Christ’s coming becomes straight and smooth (Luke 3:1-6).
In the Gospel Reading (Luke 3:10-18), John the Baptist is giving more practical advice as to how we prepare the way of Christ’s coming. It is by way of acts of kindness (Luke 3:11), letting our kindness be known through actions (Philippians 4:5). And it is by acting justly (Luke 3:12-13)
As John the Baptist were giving advices as to preparing for the coming of Christ, as his forerunner, people’s anticipation grew and even began to think of him as possible Christ (Luke 3:15). In response, John acted justly by humbly identifying himself as Christ’s precursor and spoke of the great power of Christ to come (Luke 3:16). So he urged people to repent and convert and to be baptized, before Christ’s appearance to bring his fiery judgement, while he continue to preach the good news of Christ’s coming and the imminence of his Kingdom (Luke 3:17-18).
We must have our hearts ready to receive Christ to keep the joy beyond anticipatory joy on the Third Sunday of Advent. His arrival is nearing. So our anticipation grows. So does our anticipatory joy.
Let us carry ourselves further on our Advent preparatory journey to turn our anticipatory joy into permanent joy as we receive Christ in our hearts and as he dwell in our hearts and among us (i.e. John 1:14; cf. Zephaniah 3:15). And let us make sure that our hearts are straight and smooth to receive Christ and let him dwell in, by removing all the obstacles, such as pride, greed, and all other vices. This way, we will be filled with Christ’s sanctifying grace, enabling us to be fruitful with the fruit of the Holy Spirit, including joy, peace, and love. Let us act with kindness and justice with each other daily because it is also our preparation to receive Christ and rejoice with him upon his arrival. And we will find ourselves with the same joy at the end of time upon his return (Revelation 19:7).
As we rejoice in anticipation for Christ to arrive in our hearts, let Christ’s peace (John 14:27) fill us to shield us from stress and anxiety of this time of the year.
Remember, those who came to John the Baptist in anticipation of Christ were anxious and stressed. They were looking for a way to free themselves from what distressing factors. And John's counsel to them was to repent and be baptized, mending their way from sins to act with kindness and justice. This is the only way to rejoice until Christ's return at the end of time.
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