3rd sunday of Advent-C

Gaudate (Joyful) Sunday

A husband thought of buying something nice for his wife for Christmas and asked the store-keeper, “I am here to buy something nice for my wife for Christmas”. The store keeper showed him a beautiful perfume bottle this is J. Lo brand only $ 50 bucks. That is too much, please give me something cheaper and he showed a $30 dollar perfume and he wants to go a little cheaper and he showed him a $15 perfume and he still wants to go cheaper saying, “I want to see something really cheap”.  So the store clerk said, “You can see really cheap here and thus hand him a mirror”.

Today we celebrate the third Sunday in Advent and this Sunday is in a special way called as Gaudete Sunday or joyful Sunday. This Sunday prepares us to celebrate the glorious birth of Christ the Messiah.

People who came to John the Baptist to be baptized, even before receiving their baptism, asked him, “Please tell us what we should do”. The tax collectors came and asked the same question, “Please tell us what we should do?” And the soldiers came asked about they had to do.  Every day people came to him and people who were holding power and positions came to him. They all came knowing that they were away from God and others and themselves.

Though in the time of Jesus, they were many Pharisees, leaders of the temple and religious leaders who talked about God and spiritual things, people did not go to them wanting to know what they had to do to welcome the Messiah. It is because their teachings and life-style did not agree with each other. It is because they imposed rules and regulations; rituals and customs hard to follow and it is because they wanted to be called Rabbi and masters; they wanted to be recognized as spiritual leaders and guides and they wanted to have best seats at celebrations and they prayed standing outside of the temple to be known by all. Christ our Lord called them as white washed tombs and that is why people did not go to them.

But on the other hand, people from every walks of life came to John. John’s main message to welcome the Messiah is “help others especially those who are in need”

Once a rabbi visited a Catholic monastery and while he was talking to the Abbot or the head monk, he said, “O Rabbi, I do not know what to do because this monastery used to be so famous. We had so many monks and people used to come from different walks of life to listen to our spiritual thoughts and guidance but now people stopped coming and we do not have many monk left either. We are now left with few monks and I do not know what to do. The rabbi listened everything and the next day as he was leaving the monastery, he looked at those monks and said, “One of you is the Messiah”.  They were all shocked to hear the message. Then things rapidly changed in the monastery. Every monk began to look at themselves and others as though they were the Messiah. They began to treat others and themselves with love and kindness and within a month, people began to come back to monastery for spiritual directions and celebrations and many men especially young men joined their order to become monks. Everything happened because of the way they began to treat others and themselves.

If we have more material things and have more spiritual things and have more wisdom and knowledge, it is our duty to share with those who have little. It is in our sharing, we find God and it is in our sharing, we prepare the Messiah in our midst.

I have seen and witnessed many people doing amazing job for others especially helping others in need. And some of them after a while get so frustrated saying, “Everything I do for them but in return I get nothing” And on the other hand, there are people keep helping and doing things for others and still they are so happy and excited. It is because they know that they are not doing for their self-glory and it is because they know that they are doing everything for the welfare of others and especially for the glory of God.

As we love and forgive others, the world will become a good place to live.

Once a boy ran away from home. The dad did everything he could to find him but nothing happened and at the end, he put an ad in the local newspaper saying, “Dear Joe, I love you so much and whatever happened between us is forgiven and forgotten. Please do come back. I will be waiting in front of the newspaper office tomorrow noon…” The next day, when the dad went to see his son in front of the newspaper office. He saw something unexpected. Yes, he saw including his son Joe, more than fifteen Joes waiting for their dad”.

As John the Baptist was talking to people with love and compassion; with divine authority and power, people began to think that John might be the Messiah. Sometimes the imitators could easily look like the original. The student could manifest the teacher in him. Today we need Christ’s love and we need Christ’s forgiveness and His compassion. Today Christ could completely be manifested only by His followers as the apostles did or John the Baptist is doing today’s gospel.

And then John looked at them all and said, “I am not He. He is more powerful than I am and I am unworthy to untie the thong of His sandals. I just baptize you with water but Christ the one who is coming will baptize you with fire and the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion:

What is the best gift we could possibly give to Christ on the day of His glorious birth day? Is it enough to leave our sins behind? Is it enough to help others in name of Christ? What could be our best gift to Christ? The best gift is giving ourselves. Yes, let us give ourselves to Christ and celebrate this Christmas a meaningful one. Amen.