Homily for the Week of December 16, 2012

3rd Sunday of Advent, C 2012 Zephaniah 3:14-18 Phil 4:4-7 Luke 3:10-18 St. Rose of Lima is the Catholic Church in Newtown, Connecticut where yesterday the terrible school shooting took place at Sandy Hook elementary school. Tonight there was to be a Nativity pageant put on by the children of the Parish. The child who was to be the angel Gabriel died in the school massacre yesterday. The pastor of the parish said the pageant will still be held this evening. He said that tonight we now have 20 angels in heaven. One 1st grade boy who survived will light the star of Bethlehem. He was one of those who hid in the bathroom with their teacher. He told his teacher I do not want to die. I want to have Christmas. While many of us may question why this happened, what is far more in need of hope is for the parents who last night did not have their little daughter or son with them, and now must prepare for wakes and funerals. With only one more Sunday before Christmas our Church Bible readings today takes on a more eager and urgent sense of anticipation. You have noticed that today we lighted the rose colored candle in the Advent wreath. We did not do this just because we got tired of purple. We did it because this Sunday is called Caudate Sunday. Caudate is a Latin word that means rejoice as in the entrance antiphon Rejoice, again I say to you rejoice! Our first Bible reading is from the book of the prophet Zephaniah. Zephaniah comes on the scene in a time of darkness. The people had had awful presidents. In order to stop other countries from taking them over the presidents had made agreements with their neighbors. The Jewish people did not like these agreements which required that they give up their religion and join another religion. That religion would require mothers to abort their children. But fortunately a new president changes all of this. Zephaniah tells the people that they can rejoice again and they need not be afraid. The Lord will rejoice over them in gladness, and renew them in love. St. Paul echoes the same message. Paul writes to the Christians of Phillippi that the Lord is near and that his peace will guard their minds and hearts. Have no anxiety he tells them. The Gospel continues the story of John the Baptist we had last weekend. John the Baptist tells his friends about the coming of the Saviour. They ask him: What shall we do? John tells them to act with justice, charity and honesty so that their lives will reflect the life of Jesus. The Lord is in your midst...Fear not..be not discouraged. The joy of the Church today is in the coming of Jesus who brings us peace and joy and gladness and love. The joy of this Sunday comes in jumbo size. But how do we express it? Do we really feel it? We may feel awkward and embarrassed at expressing joy in a church. After all this is a Mass and not a hockey or basketball game where such expressions of joy are encouraged and expected especially if our team is winning. John the Baptist today dedicates his preaching and teaching to talking about a joyful God. Too often we can get the image of God as a sober God ready to do us in when we do something wrong; a God who gets upset over our failures to live what we believe. We can imagine him planning new punishments for our sins. Rather, God is a joyful God and wants us to catch that joy also. God made us in his own image and likeness. God doesn't make junk. God has to be happy with us. Someone once said: Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever the same. Jesus and John were such persons, and they can be such persons for us here today. This Advent we are invited to stop what we are doing for a while and listen to our hearts. It is part of our human nature to get caught up in individual anxieties. Twinges of pain, money worries, and family concerns all jostle within us to drain our time and energy as we try to meet demands for immediate attention and solution. We may go in for vigorous exercise, take tranquilizers, diet, or seek out the latest fashion in self-help or positive thinking. And these solutions may work for a time. But, as with physical diseases, the stresses and strains of human life have an incredible capacity to reinvent themselves in different shapes and sizes. As Christians, our belief is that ultimately we have to get in touch with the inner peace that only comes from God. But God's presence and peace began six months ago, or 6 years or 16 years or 60 years, when water was poured over our heads at Baptism. It is ongoing. That water of baptism is not just cleansing but also nourishing and refreshing. It gives us the ability to live at a level of serenity, whatever life throws at us. Preparing for the coming of Christ at Christmas, we need to find time to allow that understanding of our need and Christ's response to take deeper root within us. What are we preparing for as we approach his coming? Surely it is the fullness of peace so often mentioned on Christmas cards and Christmas hymns. John the Baptist prepares the crowd for Christ's coming through baptism and a change of heart and behavior. It is only through God's presence that we will find true life and peace. As Christmas approaches we trust in God's loving presence rather than in self-help. Take a look this week of the progress of your Advent preparations so far, especially your spiritual preparations and not just Christmas gifts and Christmas cards. What would John the Baptist say to us today if we asked him what we ought to do? He would undoubtedly tell us to prepare ourselves the best we can for the coming of Jesus.