With Jesus’ birth, be joyful
IN a class on homiletics, the professor emphasized the importance of making the facial expression harmonize with the homily. “When you speak of Heaven,” he said, “let your face light up with a heavenly gleam; let your eyes shine with glory. But when you speak of Hell—your ordinary face will do.”
* * * Gaudete, which means “rejoice,” “be joyful,” is the message of this 3rd Sunday of Advent. That’s why the liturgical color is pink.
With the birth of Jesus the Messiah, the Sunday tells us to be “joyful in hope” because he has already redeemed us and now we should do our part in saving ourselves.
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During the time of John the Baptist, people did not know who or where the Messiah was. People kept looking for him to come in the guise of some kind of Elijah or their imagining.
The people asked John: “Are you the Messiah?” “No, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight his path” (John 1, 23).
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The people then kept missing who the Messiah was when in fact he was right in their midst, prompting the Baptist to exclaim, “There is one among you whom you do not know” (Jn 1,26).
In one of my pilgrimages to the Holy Land, our group visited the tomb of King David highly revered by the Jews. In the course of the tour, I asked the lady tour guide, “What about Jesus Christ? How do you regard him?”
*** The lady looked sharply at me, her face stiffening and blurted, “Jesus Christ was just an ordinary person; he doesn’t mean anything to us.” I was taken aback and much embarrassed before the group. I hurriedly left the shrine—afraid another one would be buried in the tomb!
* ** How about our modern times? Would we miss the Lord and worse, reject him like what his countrymen did?
Some say, “If we lived in Christ’s time, we would have loved and followed him.” Is that really true?
Then why is it in our celebration of Christmas, for instance, we are so engrossed with Christmas shopping, gift-giving, eating and drinking, that we forget the reason why we’re doing all this?
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There is a story about an elderly lady passing in front of a big mall. Seeing the beautiful “belen” (crib) amidst the lights and Christmas trees outside, she said: “Good Lord, they are putting back Christ to Christmas!”
Or, why don’t we recognize him in our fellowmen especially among the poor, for whom Jesus said: “Whatever you did to the least of my brethren, you did to me”? If we are keenly aware of God’s presence in them, would we abuse, torture, or even murder them?
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Advent and Christmas are opportunities for us to renew our faith in Jesus. Despite our problems and seemingly hopeless condition, Jesus is our hope and our joy. Don’t take your problems TOO seriously. Jesus came to save you.
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