[stephenkhoo]

Sunday, 11 December, 2011, 3rd Week of Advent
THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS IS ROOTED IN THE HIDDEN PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN OUR MIDST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ISA 61:1-2.10-11; 1 THESS 5:16-24; JN 1:6-8.19-28

We are mid-way in the season of Advent. Traditionally, this Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday, that is, the Sunday of Joy. The scripture readings set the tone of the celebration because the passages selected contain the element of joy. Are you happy? Are you joyful? This is what the liturgy of this Sunday is asking us. St Paul exhorts us, “Be happy” and Prophet Isaiah says, “Exult for joy in the Lord.” So if you lack happiness and joy in your life, you must ask yourself what is making you unhappy and lacking joy in life. Indeed, what is the basis of our joy?

In the first place, joy comes from waiting. Joy is experienced not only when what we hope for is realized but also in the waiting itself. Of course, not all waiting brings joy. Waiting can bring joy only when what we hope and wait for is certain. If not, the waiting only brings anxiety, apprehension and fear. But if we are waiting for someone or something which we know will be realized in a matter of time, that waiting ushers in great joy. This is true when we are waiting for our loved ones to return; or when we wait to collect our bonus, lottery win, or when we are preparing to go for a holiday. Indeed even in secular celebrations, e.g. Chinese New Year, the preparation for the festival and the mood that is in the air would have already given us great joy. This is even truer for Christmas, for Christ’s coming is real.

However, the joy for us Christians is not rooted principally in the social or material celebrations. Our joy cannot be because we are expecting to receive some presents. Such joy is transitory. So it is also important to ask whom we are waiting for. The mistake of the priests and religious leaders during the time of John the Baptist was that they were waiting for the wrong Christ. They thought John the Baptist was the Messiah or the prophet. So for us Christians, the great joy of Christmas is that we are not simply waiting for someone, but we are awaiting the coming of Christ our Messiah; and when He comes, as the first reading tells us, there will be freedom for those in captive by sin, healing for those whose have been broken by betrayal or unforgiveness, sight for those who walk in darkness and good news for all who are poor, whether materially or spiritually.

Of course, this will happen only if Jesus is born again in our hearts. It is the joy of welcoming the Lord into our lives that makes us truly happy and gives us the peace and joy that the world cannot give. Indeed, the great joy of the Christmas celebration is not simply in claiming that God has become man in Jesus; rather, it is because this Jesus continues to dwell in our hearts in the Holy Spirit. This is the joy that John the Baptist spoke about when he said that the Messiah will come and He will not simply give us the grace of repentance but that He will baptize us and give us His Holy Spirit, the life of God.

Only within this context will the material and social celebrations make sense! If we put up the lights and decorations or give gifts, we are simply manifesting the human aspect of the interior spiritual joy in us. Being human, we need to express both individually, personally and socially this joy of Christ in our hearts. So we put up the lights to remind us that Christ is the light of the world because He has been the light of our lives. We give gifts in imitation of God who has given us not simply gifts but the ultimate gift of Himself in the person of Jesus.

But the good news of today’s liturgy is that this joy of having Jesus born in our hearts in a special way at Christmas and fully at the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time is already given to us today. What we have today is anticipatory joy, a joy that is founded on the fact that Christ has already come two thousand years ago and will come again at the end of time.

Until then, Christ is still coming to us every day and every moment. However, His present coming today is a coming in a hidden manner. St John the Baptist said, “I baptise with water; but there stands among you – unknown to you – the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap.” Yes, as in the time of Jesus, the people could not recognize Jesus as the Messiah or the Son of God because the divinity of Jesus was hidden in human lowliness. When He was on earth, Christ did not display the glory of His majesty but assumed our humanity and lived like us in all things but sin. This means that if we want to recognize Christ who is with us, here and now, we must, like the disciples, see Christ through the human and created realities of life. What would these be?

Christ comes to us today in a par excellence way in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, Reconciliation and the Sick. In the Eucharist, we come to experience the fullness and personal presence of Christ in the form of bread and wine. In the sacrament of Reconciliation, Christ forgives our sins through the priest who assures us that we are forgiven and healed. In the sacrament of the Sick, Christ continues to assure us of His healing love and give us the strength to recover from our sickness or to share the suffering with Him.

Besides the Sacraments, the Lord also comes to us in and through our neighbours. After all, Christ who has assumed our humanity and being identified with us will reach out to us in the poor, the needy, the lonely, the sick and the troubled. He comes to us in everyday situations, sometimes through our loved ones and friends when we need a listening ear, or some consoling words and when someone comes to our help when we are down and out. Yes, Christ comes to us through our trials and difficulties. He comes to us in moments of success and achievements. But most of all, He comes to those whose hearts are pure and blameless. Only those who are holy and blameless can experience the peace and freedom of Christ. To have a blameless heart means that we are not burdened by guilt or fear and thus we live integrated and wholesome or holy lives. As the prophet said, we can exult for joy only because the Lord has clothed us “in the garments of salvation” and wrapped us “in the cloak of integrity, like a bridegroom wearing his wreath, like a bride adorned in her jewels.”

How then can we experience this joy of living an integrated life today? By humbly listening to the prophets around us! St Paul urges us not to stifle the gift of prophecy. He said, “Never try to suppress the Spirit or treat the gift of prophecy with contempt.” St John the Baptist, as the great prophet of the Messiah, is that “voice that cries in the wilderness: Make a straight way for the Lord.”

Last Sunday, we are asked to take heed of John’s exhortation to repent and prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ by living an honest life. He spoke of the urgency to straighten our paths, our minds and our lives. We are exhorted to level the mountains of pride and egotism; to fill up the valleys of emptiness in our lives caused by sin and materialism. Unless we give up sins in our lives, God cannot live in us. God and sin cannot coexist. So it is necessary that we opt for Christ. St Paul warns us “to think before you do anything – hold on to what is good and avoid every form of evil.” Indeed, St Paul urges us, “for all things give thanks to God, because this is what God expects you to do in Christ Jesus.” We can give thanks to God for everything only because we are doing His will and living the kind of life He has shown us.

Besides listening to the prophets, we too must be prophetic in our lives. All of us are John, called to be a witness to the Light and to speak for the Light so that in and through us, others might come to believe in Christ because they see Christ in us. Like John the Baptist, our task is to direct others to Christ by being a true prophet of love and service. In the process of witnessing to the Christ in us, we save ourselves because we are sanctified in all that we do and say. In this way, we fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah, “for as the earth makes fresh things grow, as a garden makes seeds spring up, so will the Lord make both integrity and praise spring up in the sight of the nations.”

Today, let us take heed of the advice of St Paul. He urges us, “Be happy at all times; pray constantly.” Yes, Christ is most present to us when we are at prayer. Christ is our friend and He wants to speak to us His beloved. He wants to inspire and enlighten us. Only in prayer can we be sensitive to His presence. Without spending time in quiet meditation and reflection, we will be lost in the merry making of Christmas. Indeed, the season of Advent, being the time of waiting, requires us to be attentive in prayer, watching and listening to what God wants to speak to us in our hearts.

Let us in all humility seek for the gift of repentance and contrition of heart so that our hearts will be ready to receive Christ today, for if we do not welcome Him now, we cannot be ready for Christmas. But if we let Christ be born in our days today, then the joy we experience at Christmas would even be more intense. Let us take to heart the encouragement of St Paul, “God has called you and he will not fail you.” Yes, today, we can confidently look to the future because we have experienced His love and peace today. This is the basis of our joy, because it is a joy that is already realized, albeit imperfectly but will be perfected at the Second Coming of Christ and in a special way at Christmas.

[stephenkhoo]

Today I attend the evening mass at Trinity, suppression of the spirit is when we are given the holy spirit but we choose and contemplate and instead of welcoming the holy spirit we choose our own spirit to pursue our own desires. To welcome the holy spirit is to be joyful and welcome the holy spirit the nearness of God in our lives and love.

Priest say prophecy spoken by Isaiah and St John and the prophes is not about the future and prediction of doomsday but the word of God.