3^rd Sunday of Advent Dec 14th 2008 - (Jn 1, 6-8, 19-28) - Saint Francis of Assisi talked with one of his brothers about the perfect joy. He said to him:  It is snowing and is very cold. You have to walk a lot to get home. After a long time you arrive home, and somebody opens the door. You are received with a hug and the dinner is ready, a plate of hot and delicious soup. Is this the perfect joy?

The brother answered him: Yes, of course!

But Francis said that was not the perfect joy. Francis continued, “Imagine that after all that walking, you then have to knock on the door for a while because nobody opens the door immediately. After enduring the cold weather longer and feeling very tired, somebody finally opens the door and lets you in.

The brother then to Francis, “So, that is the perfect joy?

“No”, replied Francis, “that is not the perfect joy either.”

What is it then? asked the brother.

Francis said, “Imagine that after all that walking, you have to wait for a while outside, suffering the cold, hunger and fatigue. And then when someone finally opens the door, he does not recognize you, he yells at you and beats you with a stick. The person does not let you get into your own house. If after all that you are able to smile and still be at peace, then, just then, you will have found the perfect joy.

Today we are celebrating the third Sunday of Advent. We are beginning the third week of preparation for Christmas. This Sunday is also called ‘Gaudete Sunday’. Gaudete means rejoice in Latin. Today the readings talk about being joyful. The first reading says: “I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul”, the responsorial psalm says “My soul rejoices in my God”, and the second reading says: “Rejoice always”.

Saint Dominic Savio said being a saint is being always joyful. But, how can a person always be joyful? There are always problems, and unexpected and difficult situations. Some days we do not want to see or talk to anybody. Being joyful all the time is hard, sometimes it is almost impossible.

We have to go deeply and ask to ourselves: what is the reason for our joy? Having money, being healthy, being famous or loved, or maybe that everything is the way we want it? When we meditate about all this, we realize we do not always have all that we want or need. There are times when the world seems to be completely against us. So, is it possible to be joyful all the time? What did saint Francis mean when he talked about the perfect joy? If there is somebody who really understands who God is for them, what He means for them, those people are the saints. Men and women like you and me, but they had God, who was the reason for their joy. The saints should influence us to ask to ourselves once more: what is the reason to be joyful? God was Saint Francis’s reason to be joyful. Because St. Francis has God, he did not care is he was hungry, tired or frozen. He did not care if people thought he was strange He knew the secret that we learn from our readings. Saint Francis knew that if he rejoiced heartily in God, then his soul would rejoice in God and he would feel the perfect joy.

Saint Paul also understood and lived the perfect joy. He wrote to the Thessalonians: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks”. In all circumstances give thanks? Even when I am sick? Or in the middle of a storm of problems? Is this possible? The answer is “yes”, is spite of the fact that we cannot live this yet!

Christmas is near. We are ten days left to celebrate… to celebrate what? We are going to celebrate that 20 centuries ago the all powerful God, the infinite God, the creator of heaven and earth, the eternal God became like us. He became a man. And he was born in poor circumstances. So, we, the Christians, believe in a God who is very human -without sin- a God who lived all that we live. Therefore, when we pray to this God, He can understand us very well. If we understand and live our faith, we will come to know and understand what John Baptist means when he says that God is like a light.

Gaudete Sunday is today. This Sunday is an opportunity to realize how much blessed we are! This coming Christmas is another opportunity to recognize the blessing of Christ in our lives. Let us celebrate it with joy: having wonderful meals, getting together with our loved ones, decorating and lighting our houses so beautifully. But the main reason for this feast, for this joy, has to be our God who becomes a baby. The meals, the meetings, the lights and the gifts have to be an expression of this perfect joy. A friend of mine used to say that during Christmas it is very easy to love God; a baby is always a reason to feel love and tenderness.

Once more, for a while, we pray and meditate. We tell the Lord that we want Him to be the reason for our perfect joy in this coming Christmas and during all our life.