REJOICING AND HOPING
Isaiah 35:1–6a, 10; James 5:7–10; Matthew 11:2–11
These days, many prefer to be mournful instead of hopeful, sorrowful rather than joyful. Who can blame them given the state of our tragic world, poverty-stricken families, toxic relationships, and exploitative politics – “man is wolf to man”. Whatever you may be going through, and whatever is going through you: Rejoice! The Lord is already at work in you and in the world to bring about the kind of changes you want; he wants you to be part of the change you expect to see, beginning with asking you to wear hopeful looks and display a cheerful heart.
Indeed, today, the Church pauses in the middle of Advent and says to us: Rejoice! That is why this Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday—from the Latin “Gaudete in Domino semper”: Rejoice in the Lord always! The purple of Advent lightens to rose, the tone of waiting softens into joy, and the Church reminds us: “The Lord is near.” But let us be honest: How easy is it to rejoice when life is still difficult? How convenient is it to rejoice when prayers seem unanswered and problems keep accumulating? That is why today’s readings are so real, so practical, and so comforting.
Let’s face it: Isaiah proclaims, “Joy Is Coming, Even to the Desert!” As if talking to today’s world, the prophet Isaiah speaks to a people who are discouraged, displaced, and weary. Yet he dares to proclaim: “The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom.” Are you kidding me! Wait for it: Isaiah does not deny the dryness of the desert. He does not pretend that human suffering is not real. But he announces something greater: God is about to act. When God comes: the blind will see, the lame will walk, sorrow will give way to joy, sighing will flee.
Advent joy does not mean everything is already perfect. It means God is faithful, even when the road is long. It is an invitation to patience while God works out the miracles that will bring out the desired joy. Our patience must change into engagement with what brings hope and changes our situations for better; it is called active hope!
St. James teaches us about “active hope” when he speaks directly to our impatience: “Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.” He compares us to a farmer. The farmer works the land, but he cannot force the rain. He waits, trusts, and perseveres. So it is with our lives: we pray, we struggle, we remain faithful, and we wait.
St. James then gives us a powerful instruction: “Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.” Advent is not about strengthening our schedules, our decorations, or our shopping lists. It is about strengthening the heart. The reason for strengthening the heart and not our shopping list is because we worsen an already precarious poverty and strained relation by seeking what is material instead of the spiritual.
St. James warns us: while waiting, do not turn against one another. No grumbling. No bitterness. No loss of charity. Because how we wait reveals what we truly believe. This is what makes our hope active: we do what brings happiness and strategize for what improves strained relationships.
St John the Baptist invites us to a faith that questions, but does not abandon God because of our present situations that we consider as hopeless and demeaning. Let us adopt the approach of St. John the Baptist, the great preacher of Advent. Today, John is no longer in the wilderness. He is in prison. From that place of darkness, he asks Jesus:
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Many of us ask the same question today given our mountain of problems that seem insurmountable despite our prayers and fidelity to God!
As far as St. John the Baptist was concerned, his was not a question of unbelief. It is the question of a faithful man whose expectations are being purified. John expected fire and judgment. Jesus brings mercy and healing. And how does Jesus answer John’s question? Not with arguments—but with evidence:
“The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” In other words: Look carefully. God is already at work. The good things around us and concerning us are reasons and sources of joy and hope. No matter our situations, we can at least name something good for which we need to be thankful, joyful, and hopeful for a better tomorrow.
Then Jesus says something that touches every Advent heart: “Blessed is the one who takes no offence at me.” Blessed is the one who trusts God even when God does not act the way we expected.
Why should we rejoice today? Gaudete Sunday tells us why we can rejoice: Not because all problems are solved, not because suffering has disappeared, but because Christ is present and active now. We must make sure that joy is not postponed until everything is perfect.
Joy is born when we recognize that God has not abandoned us. Even in prison, God did not forget St. John the Baptist: Jesus sings the praises of imprisoned John the Baptist without setting him free from prison. In fact, St. John the Baptist will be beheaded in that prison; he left the prison only with his soul taken to heaven because a woman dansed!
St. John the Baptist’s prison hope tells how even in the desert, flowers will bloom – St. John the Baptis’s audacity of hope to the point of giving up his life. Rejoicing and hopeful is accepting to rejoice in the good news of others not necessarily ours: Jesus sends the good news of how God intervenes and solves other people’s problems to imprisoned John without setting John free from prison. Yes, even imprisonment for what is good is a source of joy because heavenly reward is greater than winning the whole world and loosing one’s soul. By winning heaven, St. John the Baptist proves himself a double recipient of Jesus’ praises: “among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” John the Baptist entered Heaven thanks to his beheading!
So yes, we wait—but we wait with hope. Yes, we struggle—but we struggle with joy. Yes, life is not yet complete—but God is faithful.
Assignment for the Week:
Keep a positive and cheerful spirit all week long!