“Shout for Joy” by Diane Bayne

“Shout for Joy” by Diane Bayne

Third Sunday of Advent

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!  Sing joyfully, O Israel!  Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! ...Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love. Zephaniah 3:14, 15-16

Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel. Psalm 12:6

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Philippians 3:6

The crowds asked John the Baptist, "What should we do?” Luke 3:12

Piety

This Sunday’s readings have much to say about Piety, that is, about our relationship with God.  And so all three of these readings tell us about the kind of trust we, his faithful ones, should have in the Lord. because of what the Lord has done–and will do–for us.  So the first reading from Zephaniah tells us to:

“Fear not, be not discouraged! The LORD, your God, is in your midst,

a mighty savior.  He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love.”

This Sunday’s Psalm repeats this command when it says:

        “Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel."     

Study

In the church’s Latin days, this Sunday was called “Gaudete Sunday.”  “Gaudete” means “rejoice” because on this Sunday we are asked to rejoice because the Lord is near.  In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul emphasizes that “There is no need to worry, but if there is anything you need, pray for it with prayer and thanksgiving.”  We need not wait until after God has granted our requests before rejoicing and offering thanks because, even as we ask, we should already be grateful that the Lord is near and the peace of God is already ours.

Action

In this Sunday’s Gospel, John the Baptist gives direct answers to the peoples’ questions of “What should we do.”  These answers apply to us today as much as they did to the people of John’s time.  To summarize these commands, John tells the people that:

       

        To everyone who has more clothing and food than they need, they must share their surplus with those who have little or none.  (A brief repeat of Matthew 25).

        To those who collect taxes, they should be fair in their method of collecting and stop collecting more than has been prescribed.

        To the members of the military--or those charged with the protection of others–they must NOT abuse their public office by practicing extortion, accusing anyone falsely, or being dissatisfied with their pay.

All of the above can be seen as a repeat of the two great Commandments, the First to love God with all our hearts and minds, and the Second, to love our neighbors as ourselves.