‘Tis the season to shout for Joy

We are still in the middle of Advent, now halfway through, and the liturgical color takes a break from preparatory purple and pops pink for joy. We lit purple candles for the first two weeks and now for this third week we light a pink one and the church is decked in the color. Why pink? It is for Gaudete Sunday. This week's theme is joy, or rejoicing, which is what “gaudete” means Latin. It is a reminder pause in our Christmas preparations, both spiritual and material, that our joy comes from Jesus. For the children, we teach that while the Advent wait seems very long, there will be an excellent ending. It also lights a little fire to push us on with our plans, redirect back to the center, and on to the blessed nativity Mass.

This past Sunday, our first reading was from Zephaniah 3. The prophet preached about six hundred years before Christ to an Israel beset with wars and blasphemy. “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion; sing joyfully, O Israel! Fear not; be not discouraged. The Lord is in your midst, a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with gladness and renew you in His love. He will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals.”

Our responsorial was not a psalm this time, but a passage from Isaiah 12. “Cry out with joy and gladness, for among you is the great and holy one of Israel.” Back and forth our congregation sang these words in between verses called out by the choir.

Those particular Israelite hearers from both passages did not partake in the promise but they were called to rejoice in God's plans of redemption. I get resistant to rejoicing in my fears from reading current news or checking my children into the hospital for the extra care they need. “Sing praise to the Lord” takes an active choice to focus on Him and His plan, whether I see it or not. I can read about God's touch in humanity throughout the millenia and choose joy. And when I am too grumpy or sad to, I can have it read to me, sung to me, and preached to me at church. Then I can receive communion and look at our crucifix and dwell on true love and truly say that I rejoice in the Lord.

Our epistle reading was from Philippians 4. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I shall say it; 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. The the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Well there it is. Just rejoice. The Lord is near. So near. His peace will guard our hearts and minds. Right now in December 2015, Christmas is coming. In the grand scheme of things, Jesus is near and He is coming. We rejoice. And then we heard our gospel from Luke 3. “What should we do?” The Lord tells people to share and be honest. To be truthful and content with money.

Because He is near, we resolve to live differently. We can leap for joy like John in the womb of Elizabeth when Mary came near, Jesus within her. We can sing with Mary, “My spirit rejoices in God my savior!” Even in the middle of difficulties both personal and global, we can rejoice in the Lord and His plan of redemption.

There is a Greek word, metanoia, that means “change of mind” and it's how we live out Jesus' answer in the gospel reading for “What should we do?” We are the ones who carry out Christ's message to share, be honest, be truthful, and be content. We do it wherever we are and whatever we do in life, whether we are priests, parents, employees, or public servants; no matter the problems. Every soul can be joyful and peaceful. We can start now during Advent and continue through the year.

I love the formalities of liturgy with all the “smells and bells.” Humans are souls encased in physical bodies and it is through our bodies that we experience the world. The ancient Israelites used colors for their ceremonies and decorations (following God's orders) and we use them as well. So we're pinked-out for a week, then we return to more serious purple for the final countdown.

May we take the pause from preparations to shout; the Lord is near! Rejoice! And come quickly, Lord Jesus, we pray.

Allison Howell and her family are longtime residents of the Valley. They are Catholic converts and keep a hobby farm full of animals and children.

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