“Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, Gaudete”  “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.” These words from our opening prayer , taken from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians , is why we name this Sunday in Advent as ‘Gaudete Sunday’.  Somehow the idea of rejoicing in today’s world seems out of place, doesn’t it. If we took a piece of paper and drew a line down the middle forming two columns-one column entitled ‘ reasons for rejoicing’ and the other, ‘reasons for lamenting’, I wonder , looking around at the world, whether we might conclude that ‘rejoicing’ doesn’t win out. Yet this morning our liturgy invites us to rejoice. In fact it invites us to be part of the reason for rejoicing. Let’s look at why. As the Irish playwright, Sean O’Casey said:  “Life is a lament in one ear, maybe, but always a song in the other".

In opening the Holy Door in St. Peter’s to inaugurate the start of an extraordinary jubilee year, the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis said:

“The Virgin Mary was called to rejoice above all because of what the Lord accomplished in her.  God’s grace enfolded her and made her worthy of becoming the Mother of Christ.  When Gabriel entered her home, even the most profound and impenetrable of mysteries became for her a cause for joy, a cause for faith, a cause for abandonment to the message revealed to her.  The fullness of grace can transform the human heart and enable it to do something so great as to change the course of human history.”

‘The fullness of grace can transform the human heart and enable it to do something so great as to change the course of human history’-these words which apply to Mary in a special way apply to each of us through the grace of baptism which has been given to each one of us through God’s mercy. An article in today’s NP caught my eye. It was a surprising article to appear in a secular newspaper, entitled “Forgiveness: Why one woman went back to her childhood church 25 years later to make an emotional and powerful confession.” God’s grace is merciful and transformative as this woman attests how she was finally able to return and accept God’s forgiveness and mercy for the abortions she had had as a young woman.

Our First Reading from the prophet Zephaniah was written about 600 years before the birth of Jesus. It was written some 50 years or so before the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile. Zepaniah condemns Judah and Jerusalem because of the worship of false gods, the injustices of the leaders towards the people, and their lack of trust in God. He foretells of an end time when divine justice will reign and those who were unfaithful to the Lord will be punished. But Zephaniah also prophecies that the faithful remnant will receive God’s mercy. But as one commentator puts it, the ‘faithful remnant’ includes sinners who have been forgiven. “Keeping in mind the desire and power of God to save, we might think of the humble and lowly not as a remnant but as forgiven. This possibility makes the case for rejoicing all the more compelling and comprehensible.” (Preaching Resources). “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel. Rejoice and exult with all your heart…The Lord your God is in your midst..he will renew you in his love.” This prophecy is fulfilled for all people, all of us who are sinners, with the coming of Jesus and his infinite mercy and forgiveness.

St. Paul continues our theme of rejoicing in the Second Reading. We rejoice because ‘The Lord is near’. St. Paul writes this letter to the church he founded in Philippi-the first church he founded in Europe. He is writing this letter which speaks of the peace of God ‘surpassing all understanding’ while he is in prison in Rome or Ephesus, perhaps under the threat of execution.--Conditions which do not give one peace and joy, and yet Paul rejoices. .  He asks us to be gentle with one another. The Greek word epikeia, translated as ‘gentleness’ in our text is also translated in other translations  as ‘kindness’, ‘unselfish’, ‘softness’ and tolerance. ‘The Lord is near’ in our kindness to one another and the other includes even those with whom we disagree.

There are many parallels with the world Paul was living in and our own.  Christianity was a small sect among many religions; the Roman Empire was very pluralistic with many gods. There were wars, poverty, injustice, many refugees, torture, crucifixions, beheadings and so on but Paul still rejoices. “Do not worry about anything…the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” We rejoice because no matter how few we are we believe in God’s promises despite the world around us. Advent is the silent, precious time during which we wait with hope and vigilance for God’s Son whose peace surpasses everything we have experienced.

Advent is a reminder that we live in the in-between time—the time between Jesus’ life among us long ago and the time of his second coming in glory. To maintain this belief in our redeemer and to continue to hope for the complete fulfillment of God’s promises is in itself a sign of God’s presence in our world. Despite being bombarded daily with bad news—Paris, San Bernardino, Syria, Polytechnique, refugees—we stubbornly hold onto our faith that the prophecies will be fulfilled-indeed are being fulfilled. We are part of that fulfillment because God has graciously granted us the grace of transformation.

In the Gospel, we encounter John the Baptist in the desert. People hunger for something they cannot easily name and flock to the desert to seek out the great prophet. John exhorts them to change their lives, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” The people ask John three times a question that we all ask, “What should we do?” Advent is a time to ponder our answer to that call.  As a commentator on today’s Gospel puts it, “Today the living word of this Gospel has lost none of its power.  Just as on the day they were first spoken, John’s good and graced words empower believers to ask the right and courageous question, ‘what ought we to do?’ and then work toward an honest answer so as to prepare a worthy welcome for our coming and ever-present God.(Preaching Resources).

Matthew in his Gospel answers the question for us: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me….what you did for God’s least ones, you did for me“(Matt25:35-40).  What should we do? Each of us will answer that question as the Spirit guides us. There are many answers. One for example is to share food with those in need through our food pantry or the NDG Food Depot, or the Salvation Army or other groups.  Perhaps we can reach out to someone we are estranged from.  Each of us is called to answer the question and to act on it. In doing this, we will experience the peace which surpasses all understanding because through our acts of mercy to others we are transformed and discover who we are really meant to be. Pope Francis exhorts each of us to be transformed by God’s mercy and bring this mercy into our troubled world and the last word goes to him:

“We have to put mercy before judgment, and in any event God’s judgment will always be in the light of his mercy. In passing through the Holy Door, then, may we feel that we ourselves are part of this mystery of love, of tenderness.  Let us set aside all fear and dread, for these do not befit men and women who are loved.  Instead, let us experience the joy of encountering that grace which transforms all things.”