Homily, December 11, 2022
From the Pastor
Considering the faith we hold with love for God given in the Lord Jesus, joy is rarely the first emotion that comes to mind. Why is that? Joy is more than the common expression of deep happiness or satisfaction. In the context of faith, joy is a virtue that conveys a deep conviction or passion that longs for its promised fulfillment. Deep joy can hold the risk of great pain, suffering, or loss. The scriptures and the gospels, in particular, are filled with these contradictions.
Consider the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary in her response to the Angel Gabriel in the Magnificat. “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” This is a joy that will know the harsh reality of many pains and great loss. The labor pains of birthing Jesus led to the joy of a child born to us as Christ the Lord. Any mother knows the pain of anticipation of childbirth, yet the reality of the newborn baby brings great joy.
Jesus longed with great joy in anticipation of fulfilling the Father’s will in accomplishing our redemption. That same joy was only realized through the humiliation and suffering of the Cross. In the joy of our freedom and oneness with God, Jesus embraced the Cross despite its pain. His passion of love was fulfilled.
Consider this line of thinking in the life of John the Baptist. John was a man of passion and conviction that would not be derailed by the tension and the risks he was forced to endure. We often consider John’s question in the gospel as a matter of doubt: “Are you the One who is to come, or should we look for another?” It is more likely, in John’s deep conviction, a matter of confirmation. Deep in his heart, hidden to his conscious awareness, he knew Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. John had a passion, given by the call of God, for the coming of the Messiah. It was his joy to fulfill the inner knowing of his call to prepare the way of the Lord.
The response of Jesus to John is one of the clearest answers he ever gave. “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the poor have the Good News proclaimed to them.” Jesus cannot say: ‘yes John, I am the Messiah.’ He could only reveal his identity through signs and wonders in the power of God. Anyone with faith to see and accept the works of Jesus would understand the meaning of the words. Jesus confirms John’s desire to accomplish his mission. John’s faith is animated and motivated knowing Jesus is the One. Joy precedes his beheading. He has satisfied the call God has put on his life. On his death bed, St. Francis of Assisi effectively said the same as he speaks to his followers, ‘I have done what was mine to do until the end. Now you must do the same.’
Gaudete Sunday asks us to consider the joy of our salvation in the coming of the Lord. To realize this joy takes a deeper look beyond the excitement of Christmas just around the corner. Christmas remembers and celebrates the birth of the Child Jesus. It is a great joy to be sure. Our faith is revived in the infinite possibility of the Redeemer now in our midst. Christmas cannot simply be a memory of the past. The joy of Christmas is also that Christ is living within and among us.
This joy holds the tension and the challenge to accept and understand the meaning of Christ and the role we play in the ongoing work of our salvation. Redemption is accomplished through the Cross and resurrection of Jesus. Our personal and universal salvation is being worked out through our conviction and tangible efforts to bring about the Kingdom Jesus has inaugurated. As believers, we are one with Christ in this work no less than Mary, or John the Baptist.
Our roles are different and the paths we travel will be diverse. What remains constant is to allow ourselves to not take offense in Jesus. Rather, to allow ourselves to accept joy in the signs and wonders seen in the works of God. These works remain today. The blind see, the lame walk, the unclean are made acceptable, the deaf begin to hear, and those dead to love come alive again in the forgiveness of mercy. Some are physically healed. So many others realize the action of God in the healing only love, mercy, forgiveness, acceptance, and welcome can offer.
In some great or small way, all of us are called to share in this work. To be an agent or minister of any of these works will bring joy to the soul that confirms the evidence and presence of the Lord. It also brings the conviction to push through the pain and risk of inconvenience, failure, rejection, or cost. Those in the conviction of the Lord, longing for the fulfillment of his promise will readily persist.
This is the hope, the promise, and the anticipation of Advent. Jesus is already here, and forever coming. Be a lively agent of the gospel. Learn the joy of suffering the pains of love as a follower of Jesus in the work of his Kingdom coming.
Father John Esper
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