Dec. 12, 2021: 3rd Sunday Advent C
Dec. 12, 2021: 3rd Sunday Advent C
“Help Wanted” signs are everywhere these days on the doors of businesses. Many employers are hiring and are willing to pay higher wages and benefits. However, there is a shortage of workers. Imagine if you’re a hiring manager responsible for a territory 13 states west of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and you only have a handful of workers. That was the kind of challenge that Bishop Louis DuBourg was faced with in 1812 when he was installed as the first Bishop of Louisiana and the Floridas. He was responsible for all of the states included in the Louisiana Purchase, yet he only had a handful of churches and priests to serve. So in 1813, Bishop Dubourg traveled to France to recruit potential seminarians to serve as priests of his vast diocese. At seminaries he posted signs that read, “We offer you no salary; no recompense, no holiday or pension. But, much hard work, a poor dwelling, few consolations, many disappointments, frequent sickness, a violent or lonely death, and an unknown grave.” Within two years, he was able to bring back five priests, 26 seminarians, and Ursuline nuns to plant seeds of faith in the vast area. What was their motivation for enlisting when there was no promise of money, fame, or comfort?
“Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.” The Psalmist points us to the joy of serving the Lord. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati once remarked, “You ask me whether I am in good spirits. How could I not be so? As long as faith gives me strength, I will always be joyful.” Obtaining joy is not simply positive thinking. Joy is not something that happens to us; one must choose joy and keep choosing it everyday. One can be in the depths of darkness and suffering, and yet one can still choose joy. Mother Teresa who spent 50 years in spiritual desolation said, “Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of Christ risen.” You can palpably sense that choosing Christ is the sustaining source of joy for a Christian disciple.
How do we consciously choose joy in the Lord every day? Last week, John the Baptist told the people to prepare the way of the Lord by repenting for the forgiveness of sins. We sin when we choose something less than God, when we place earthly goals above God’s, and when we lose intimacy with God. St. Augustine explained, “God, you were within me yet I plunged into those lovely created things which you made. You were with me, and I was not with you. The lovely things kept me far from you…” God does not force us to choose him; he waits for our “yes” to choose him above all the lovely things of the world.
What should we do while we wait for the coming of the Lord? It was a poignant question asked by those gathered around John the Baptist. There were people of all walks of life including tax collectors and soldiers. John told them to be honest and to be fair in their life and work, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you… Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.” These exhortations seem so ordinary and self-evident. Yet, the message is clear. If you consciously choose God above all things, you must change your conduct. If you want true joy in your life, you must be a willing carrier of God’s joy. There are people around us who hope and pray that the people with two coats will share, that the people who have more than enough food will not waste what they have but will find it in their hearts to give them something to eat. Joy comes to those who do not have much to wear, to eat, or to live when a community of caring people provide assistance to alleviate their suffering.
As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we are reminded to profess our faith by our actions. Gaudete Sunday reminds us that there is joy in giving. Mother Teresa said, “God gives us things to share, God doesn't give us things to hold… Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share this joy with all you meet, especially your family. Be holy.” To be joyful is to receive the grace of God to be a light to others as we prepare to receive the Light of the World. “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God… The Lord is near.”
