Third Sunday of Advent (C) - What is our main reason to be joyful? What makes us happy? What do we really enjoy the most? Would we like to be happy all the time?

This third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete means in Latin rejoice, be joyful. It is a good opportunity to meditate on this beautiful and sometimes distant virtue, joy.

Today the apostle Saint Paul says: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! The prophet Zephaniah also says: Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Both readings exhort to be joyful. But they also give a reason for that. Which one? This reason is God.

And why is God a reason to be joyful? The prophet Zephaniah says that “The LORD has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies; …you have no further misfortune to fear… 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, he will sing joyfully because of you”. God will be so joyful that He will sing because of us!!!

Here there is something to stop and meditate about. Will God be joyful because of me? And we have to say that Christian joy is different than other joys. The Christian joy is deeper and in silence. It needs to be found in prayer and devotion. There are other joys like when we receive an amazing gift from a friend, when we have a delicious dinner, when our friends are so close and kind to us. But, when there is no friend, no good food, no gift? And sometimes this happens. It is impossible to pretend all the time to have success, money, youth or health. There are times in life that are really hard. Here, but not only here, we have the opportunity to experience a different kind of joy. I mean, God’s presence, God’s love. We are talking about spiritual life, a devout spiritual life.

And this is a real permanent joy. It is so permanent that Saint Paul dared to say “Rejoice in the Lord always”, not sometimes. He also said: Have no anxiety at all… the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”. Here we are talking about something that is much more than that we can understand or imagine.

And how do we get this? Saint Paul again gives the answer: The Lord is near. Christmas is near. And more than dinner, drinks and gifts, God wants to give us himself. But we need to be ready. Father, “What should we do?” John the Baptist said: “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.” To the tax collectors he said: “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.” To soldiers: “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.”

What should we do? We have to be prepared with good deeds. We need to avoid evil and selfish actions.

So, is it possible to be joyful all the time? Yes but at the same time it is not easy. But it is worthy because we are talking about a different kind of joy, a divine joy.