Last
week I focused on the hope that we have at the focus of Advent. Two
other virtues that are part of the greater virtue of hope are focused
on today. The first virtue we see is joy,
which is why the priest is allowed to wear “rose” today. This
3rd
Sunday of Advent is referred to as Gaudete
Sunday
because the first words of the Mass in the Entrance Antiphon (which
we replaced today with the “Come to us O Emmanuel”) are Gaudete
in Domino
(“Rejoice in the Lord...for He is near!”) from Saint Paul's
letter to the Philippians. The joy that the Lord is near is what we
see in the Gospel today. Jesus comes to meet us as our long-awaited
Messiah, the anointed one who will save us from our sins, who will
heal our ills (a savior in Greek is the same word as a healer). That
is why we have joy during this season.
The
second virtue related to hope comes to us in the second reading, from
the letter of James. He calls us to be patient, and patience
can only be practiced when one knows something greater is to be
expected. The word for suffering (passio)
is rooted to the word for patience (patientia).
Whenever we have to wait for something, it means it will require a
bit of suffering. But the greater the reward, the more it is worth
the wait.
In
our world today, we are trained in a Pavlovian sort of fashion to
expect immediate results and have instant response whether from the
push of a button or a text message. But with God, it doesn't work
that way. Nor with any relationship do we just always get this as we
want them and when we want them. There is a required give and take.
There is a bit of suffering that is necessary – the Lord demands
patience from us.
One
big way this happens during Advent is the rush that the world has
immediately following Thanksgiving to celebrate Christmas. The radio
stations, the stores, the workplaces and schools are all driving
toward the great holy day, and forgetting the need to prepare well
for it.
Today,
the Church invites us to wait patiently, just as John the Baptist had
to wait quietly for years, and even suffer imprisonment, sacrifice
his freedom, and eventually lose his life before his longing for the
Kingdom of God could be completely satisfied. But we know that the
greater the reward, the more it is worth the wait. And a Messiah who
promises us healing and salvation in this life, and eternal bliss in
the next, is worth any wait, any sacrifice, any suffering, any pain,
and any loss. So with patience and with joy, we continue our Advent
preparations for the blessed hope in the person of Christ Jesus.
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