This Third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday in which we celebrate the joy that we know is coming to us in the future when Jesus comes again in glory.  Joy is in our future!  There is an Advent that we are still waiting for when Jesus will come in glory and remove all suffering from the world.  The final coming of Jesus will be a victory procession.  The final Advent of the Christ will be a celebration of Christ’s victory over death.  The last enemy to be defeated is death.  When there is no more death there will be an everlasting joy.

    Jesus gave his apostles a preview of this Coming in Glory when he was with them at the Last Supper.  He began to speak to them about his departure and his passing from this life to the new life of the resurrection.  If Jesus is to come again then he must first depart to take up his place with the Father.  About his departure he says:  “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.”  The disciples were not sure how they were to understand this statement so they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks?  We do not know what he means.”  Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me.’  Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy…So you also are now in anguish.  But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you…For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God.  I came from the Father and have come into the world,  Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” (Jn 16,16-28)  Believing in the advent of Jesus prepares the apostles for a complete and eternal joy that no one will take away from them.  Advent is a preparation for joy!

    On this Gaudete Sunday we do things a bit differently.  The candle that we light is rose colored and so is the vestments of the priest.  Our readings are filled with joy.  St. Paul calls us to, “Rejoice in the Lord always.  I say it again:  rejoice!” (Phil 4,4)  Living in joy calls us to a new way of life.  Joy is the abundance of life.  “The Lord is near.”  So we leave all worries and anxieties behind and we give thanks to God unceasingly.  Everything that we do on this Third Sunday of Advent, we do with an increased vigor and fervor.  Our kindness should be known to all and our peace is beyond understanding.

        In the gospel we also hear John the Baptist calling us to do something different and to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord.  We need to “deck the halls” of our lives with signs of the presence of Jesus Christ alive in our hearts.  All manner of people are asking John today, “What should we do?”  They want to prepare their hearts to receive the Christ who comes.  We are told that the people were “filled with expectation,” which is truly an Advent attitude.  John does not give them something impossible to do, rather, he offers them a way to new life that begins with where they are right now.  He doesn’t tell them to change who they are, which would probably be impossible for many of them, but he encourages them to change how they live out their vocations.  Within their own vocations they are to be a sign of the compassion and mercy of Christ.  John doesn’t ask these disciples to do more but rather to do better with their responsibilities.  John calls those who come to him for baptism to new life and to do everything they do with all their best efforts.  They are asked to share what they don’t need with others, they are asked to not cheat and extort and they are asked to not grumble and complain.

    If the Lord is near and if he brings with him new life and joy, then what should we do?  We don’t need to be something that we are not but we need to be the best that we can be in serving others.  We also must ask the Lord, “What should we do?”  The Lord makes it clear:  do better, be better and let your kindness and mercy speak to others of God’s tender love.  Never let anyone take your joy from you.