Joy Amidst Despair
We celebrate today (tonight) the Third Sunday of Advent. In Church liturgies, this Sunday is also known as Gaudete Sunday. It marks the halfway point of Advent, a time when we continue our process of waiting for the Lord through greater commitment to prayer and reconciliation for the anniversary of the coming of the Lord at Christmas. The hope we feel that our wait will soon be over is symbolized by the wearing of rose vestments.
The message of the readings this weekend is two-fold. First, do not be discouraged and fearful about your lives. Rather, be joyful for God will guard your hearts and minds and give you what you need. The second message complements the first. Jesus tells us in our Gospel from Luke that for all we have been given we must turn aside greed, selfishness, and corruption and instead share what we have been given for the building up of our families, communities and our world.
The two-fold message of our Gospel might seem particularly difficult this Advent. Our country is going through its worst economic times since the Great Depression. Millions have lost their jobs; the disparity between rich and poor in country has never been greater. People are losing their homes and their health insurance by the hundreds of thousands.
But it is not my intention to dwell on what makes us afraid and discouraged. Instead, I would ask that we focus on what the Lord has given to us all. I would like to be optimistic, so optimistic that you might think that in addition to my rose-colored vestments, I am seeing the world with rose-colored glasses.
Let me ask that you consider the following:
In spite of the world’s many problems, in 1900, the world’s economic output was about two trillion dollars. In 2000, it was $37 trillion. And even though that wealth is not well-distributed, technical and social engineering and the success of Catholic social justice teaching has made it possible for vast numbers of people to raise their standard of living to levels that could only have been dreamed about a few generations ago.
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy.
If you and your loved ones own a computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who do.
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than those who live in chronic pain and those who will die today.
If you have never experienced the fear of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 700 million people in this world.
As we celebrate Mass this (evening) morning, let us remember that we celebrate without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death. In having the freedom to worship God, we are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
The joy of reflecting on what we have, rather than on our suffering no matter how real should also be accompanied by the clear command of our Lord in our Gospel this morning to share our joy, spiritual and material with others. And so I also wish to share some very practical suggestions how we can share what we have with others.
If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn’t allow a scene depicting the birth of Jesus, place a small nativity scene on your own front lawn or porch. If all of Jesus’ followers did this, there wouldn’t be any need for such a scene in the town square.
Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way Christmas is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. Many of them may be terribly afraid and lonely this year and anxious to see the face of Jesus in strangers.
Visit someone in the nursing home. You don’t have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can’t afford and they don’t need, spend more time with them. Tell them the story of Jesus’ birth and why He came to earth. Hold them in your arms and remind them that you and Jesus love them.
Pick someone who has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.
Give everyone you meet a warm smile. Sometimes it can literally save a life.
When you do shop for Christmas presents, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word.
Don’t go Christmas shopping on Sunday. If the store didn’t make so much money on that day they’d close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families.
Support missionaries, the people who take Jesus’ love and the Good News of his message to those who have never heard of Jesus.
Buy some food and a few gifts for the poor and marginalized; give them to charities that believe in Jesus so that such food can be delivered to the less fortunate.
Consider an alternative Christmas, giving gifts on behalf of friends to their favorite charities.
Take your faith into the public square, fighting for the right to life at every stage of life, fighting for universal health care as a right not a privilege, protecting God’s creation, defending the rights of workers, putting the poor first, defending and advancing human rights, including economic and social justice, seeking peace and avoiding unjust wars.
Above all brothers and sisters remember what Jesus said so many times: “Do not be afraid.” If only we lived those words. Be confident that the Lord of love will give us what we need even if it is not always what we want. Putting the Lord and others first is a central message of Advent, laying the groundwork for that message in other seasons. Christianity is a wonderful faith, but only if we go out and live it, not just on Christmas Day, but every day of the year.