1.Is
61:1-2a,10-11
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2.1Thes 5:16-24
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3.Jn 1:6-8,19-28
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Theme
of the readings “ faith in Christ is our
only Joy”
Today
within the season of advent is the third Sunday, it is the third Sunday of
advent known as “ Gaudete Sunday” Gaudete is the latin word for “ rejoice” it
is a reminder that as Christians we are
to be joyful people.
They
joyfulness seen in catholics should mirror the love and presence of Christ
among them. Catholics and the rest of Christians in other denominations should
live the life of witness to Christ so as to bring a transformation to the
rest of the world. This joy should
attract those who have not yet lived / received the grace of God. By being
joyful people we as catholics are invited to be instruments of God’s love to
those whose hearts are yearning to receive Jesus. In our current situation this
virtue( Joy) has not been well cultivated, we can ask ourselves why is it so?/
has been lost
Why?
The
reason here is apparent, that it is due
to the lack of establishing and maintaining our real identity in Jesus Christ,
a close relationship with Jesus Christ. It is also our inability to see Jesus
Christ around us.
Let’s
recall a story that can help us to understand this. A certain brothers monastery
discovered that it was going through difficult moment and crisis. Some of the
monks had left, there were no new candidate joining the monastery, people were
no longer coming for prayer and spiritual direction as they used to. Those
monks remained in a monastery were few, were becoming old, becoming stressed,
bitter and even relationships among themselves were unkind. The Abbot ( the
superior of the monastery) had heard about the holy man, a hermit living alone
in woods and decided to consult with him regarding the their monastery problem
at hand. The hermit after hearing that he told an abbot that he had a secret
for him regarding to their problem. He informed the abbot that one friar living
in the monastery was actually the
messiah, but he was living in such a way that nobody could recognize him. With
this revelation an abbot went back home, called a community meeting to discuss
about the revelation he acquired from the holy hermit. The aging monks looked
at each other exactly to discern who among them could be Christ.
Could
it be Brother Joseph who prays all the time! But has got gossiping attitude!
Could it be Brother Matthew who is always willing to help? But has got a
problem of eating, drinking much and he can’t fast for Christ’s sake.
The
abbot kept on telling them that the messiah had adopted some bad habits as a
way of hiding his real identity. Hearing that, this made them even more
confused and they could no longer make a way forward to identify among them
about who was a real messiah. At the end of the meeting what each monk knew for
sure was that any of the monks excluding himself could be the Christ. From that
day the monks began to treat one another with great respect, and humility
knowing that the person they were
speaking to could be very Christ. They began to show love to one another, they
community life become more brotherly, and their prayers more fervent. Slowly
people from outside began to take a notice
of the new spirit in the monastery, thus people embarked coming to the
monastery for prayers and spiritual direction. Word began to spread and
candidates aspiring to join the monastery began to show up and thus the number
of monks grew in zeal and love. All this took place as the holy man of God
reminded them their responsibility to remember that Christ was amid them, that
Christ was present in all
of
them.
As
Baptized Catholics we all have the spirit of Christ we received at our Baptism
and confirmation. Through the sacrament of Eucharist we have the true body and
blood of Christ physically united with our bodies
To
rejoice in Christ is to have faith in him. Many of us are experiencing
hardship, challenges and tough times in our lives, like majority are jobless,
sick, and some are in broken
relationship, yet if all have a trust in Jesus Christ there is no need to give
up and despair.
The
question a head of us is that where to have faith? The answer is faith that every thing in life, good or bad
has purpose, and that purpose will be used to help us grow in virtue and
holiness. In faith we overcome our attitudes.
As
we celebrate this Sunday we are all invited to be joyful in the because already
we have gained access because we have gained access into holy family of God, that is the father,
son and the holy spirit as we are all adopted as sons and daughters of God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s look holiness in each one of us. Let our
Joy radiates the truth in our brothers and sisters who have not discovered that
Jesus Christ is among them.
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