December 13, 2023 at 12:45 a.m.
The third week of Advent: ‘REJOICE!’
Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of Advent reflections that were first published in The Evangelist in 2018.
Our continuing journey of Advent can seem so brief and it is hard to imagine that in just over one week’s time we will be celebrating the great feast of Christmas together. As we have seen over the first two weeks of our season, with each week of Advent we are given markers or signs, to guide us through this season and help us prepare for the coming of Jesus. So far we have had the two spiritual guides of “watching and waiting” and of “preparing a way for the Lord.”
Our signpost, or guide, for this third week is a simple and yet potentially difficult message: rejoice, for the Lord is near! This coming Sunday, we celebrate what is sometimes called “Gaudete” or “rejoicing” Sunday, echoing the first words of the entrance antiphon for the Mass. We are asked to rejoice, because the coming of our Lord and Savior is near. This theme of rejoicing is marked in our readings, our prayers and in the option of having rose-colored vestments and Advent Wreath candle (rose being a mix of the purple of Advent and the white of Christmas).
The word “joy” occurs so many times in the Sacred Scriptures in both the Old and the New Testaments. However, it is not always an easy word to understand, yet alone to live. We think of all those suffering through war, violence or injustices in so many places. It can be hard to be joyful, if we are experiencing loss, or hurt, or a crisis in our lives. Joy can also seem to be something fleeting or even superficial, or frustratingly elusive. When, as Christians, we speak of joy (rather like other everyday words such as “love,” “peace” or “freedom”) we need to recall that the word has a very particular meaning for us.
In our Second Reading at Mass for the Third Sunday of Advent, St. Paul says “rejoice always.” In fact, the word “joy” occurs 22 times in the letters of St. Paul. He does not say this lightly, or as a tired cliché. We can also recall that St. Paul suffered much, both personally and for preaching and living the Gospel. We should not think that his life was some gentle voyage, with blue skies, white fluffy clouds and a chorus of angels singing in the background! In one of his letters, he even lists all his sufferings for the sake of the Gospel (cf. 2 Corinthians 11: 16-33). He asks us to rejoice in hope, in repentance, in salvation and even in suffering. So, what does he mean and what exactly is Christian joy?
Well, the Christian understanding of joy certainly does not mean pretending all is fine, or of putting on a happy face or fixed smile when all is not good. The word used for “joy” in the New Testament is chairete and it is actually a word with many meanings and levels. To name a few of these, it first means a profound and real sense of God’s love for us. It also means a great feeling of trust and confidence in God, so that whatever happens, we have His love and care. Christian joy then is not something superficial, nor as Bernard Bassett remarked is it “contingent,” that is depending on things going well, or on circumstances, or on others. Rather, joy is a gift and an inner peace and strength that is there regardless of life and its ups and downs
Christian joy is also a spiritual way of living and seeing ourselves, others and the world, so that we are tuned into God’s will. As Abbot Marmion wrote, “joy is the very echo of God’s life within us.” In this sense, joy is certainly an attitude to life and a spiritual gift. It is also eminently practical; especially when, with God’s help, we try to develop spiritual values and a way of everyday living that are what we might call joy-giving, rather than joy-killing. A great exercise during this third week of our Advent journey might be to strengthen all those things that, spiritually speaking, bring us joy and also root out those attitudes or values in our life that we know are joy-killers.
As we hear in the Gospel for the Third Sunday of Advent (John 1: 6-8, 19-28), when St. John the Baptist is asked “who are you then?” he proclaims that he is not the Christ. He then goes on to say that the one who is coming after him is so much greater than him. We can rejoice because that “greater one,” Jesus Christ comes to us. So, as we begin what is probably a crazy and busy week ahead, whether at work, or school, or with all those Christmas preparations at home, let us take to heart and to truly live the words prayed at Mass this Sunday: “we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Father Barratt is the director of the Office of Prayer and Worship, episcopal vicar for the Hudson Valley Vicariate, a member of the Presbyteral Council & College of Consultors and pastor at Holy Trinity Parish in Hudson-Germantown — all for the Diocese of Albany — and adjunct professor at Siena College and St. Bernard’s Postgraduate School of Theology and Ministry in Albany.
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