This essay first appeared in our weekly Scripture reflection newsletter on December 7, 2024.
“Rejoice always!” says St. Paul, a quote echoed in the Entrance Antiphon, which gives today its beautiful name: Gaudete, or Rejoice, Sunday. Why rejoice at this point in Advent? Mainly because the readings move from “The Lord is coming” to “The Lord is near.”
St. Paul was writing to the people in Philippi around AD 50 or 60, about 20 or 30 years after the public ministry of Jesus. The First Reading, from the Book of Zephaniah, written in the 7th century BC, likewise tells the inhabitants of Jerusalem to “shout for joy,” because the Lord is in their midst, and will deliver them from all their misfortunes.
Those are all lovely sentiments, but do they have much to say to us today? Is it possible not only to rejoice, not only to rejoice always, but to shout for joy in the 21st century?
At first glance, the answer would seem to be: No! Because none of us is free from misfortunes. I won’t comment on the recent presidential election, other than to say that some people are delighted and others are miserable. Thus, probably half the nation might find it hard to “shout for joy.” And many LGBTQ people have told me that they are more fearful after this election.
So can we “rejoice always”? Even “shout for joy”? You won’t be surprised when I say that for Christians the answer is yes.
Closer to home, we just saw a healthcare CEO murdered on 54th Street, around the corner from the old America House Jesuit Community. Not long afterwards, on social media, some were hailing the murderer as a hero, which no matter what you might think of healthcare insurance, is incredibly disturbing. Farther afield, there are ongoing wars in Ukraine and in Gaza, and in Myanmar and Sudan, all causing tremendous suffering.
And I’m sure you have your own personal misfortunes: physical or medical problems, family difficulties, broken relationships, financial woes, and on and on. I don’t think I need to go on. As the saying goes, “Be kind to everyone, for everyone is fighting a battle.” Those battles can be depressing.
So can we “rejoice always”? Even “shout for joy”? You won’t be surprised when I say that for Christians the answer is yes. Why? Because not only is the Lord coming; not only is the Lord near; but is here. He has already come. And he has shown us the way to the Father and to new life.
Now, perhaps that sounds banal. Perhaps we’re so used to knowing about Jesus that we forget what it must have been to anticipate his coming.
We get a taste of that from today’s Gospel reading in which we are told that the people going to see John the Baptist are “filled with expectation,” even thinking that John might be the Messiah. But he subordinates himself to Jesus, here in three ways: by saying that he is not worthy to untie his sandals (something only a slave would do); by saying that the Christ will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (anticipating the events of Pentecost) and by saying that he will bring judgement. Now, John already had a circle of followers and was also attracting huge numbers of people. In Matthew, “Jerusalem, all Judea and the region around the Jordan” were flocking to see him. Here in Luke it’s “crowds” and even tax collectors. Everyone was waiting for this manifestation of hope.
Even in the midst of difficult times, we can rejoice, rejoice always and even shout with joy.
But we already have this hope: in Jesus Christ. And we are sure in the knowledge that God is always with us. Always. To that end, a friend recently told me that she was in the ER for three days with a respiratory infection. Now, all praise to doctors and nurses and especially ER doctors and nurses, but that’s a tough place to be. But rather than turn in on herself, my friend reminded herself that God was with her and, as she said, she realized that she was in the shadow of God’s wings. She knows that the Lord has already come. And she was if not happy, and if not joyful, then at least more at peace. Certain that even in the ER God was looking after her. As the psalm says today, “God is indeed my savior; I am confident and unafraid.”
So can we be joyful in the midst of misfortunes? Yes. Because while happiness is sometimes a transient response to an event, Christian joy is about a relationship. With God. Even in the midst of difficult times, we can rejoice, rejoice always and even shout with joy. Because not only is the Lord coming, not only is the Lord near, but the Lord is here, every day of your life, to be with you, to accompany you, and to help you with your difficulties. And surely that is cause to rejoice always. I say it again: rejoice.
