Following is the prepared text from Bishop Olmsted’s homily for the 3rd Sunday of Advent.
Rejoicing in God
December 13, 2020
“My spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46).
When C. S. Lewis returned to the practice of his faith in Christ, he said he had “not the slightest hint [of] any connection between God and joy.” Lewis describes his conversion in this way: “I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.”
Not only did Lewis see no connection between God and happiness, but he even thought that the two were opposed to each other. He was convinced that conversion was the right thing to do, the thing that his own search for truth required him to do, but he never imagined it would open the door to happiness. Years later, when he wrote his conversion story, he titled it, “SURPRISED BY JOY.”
As a young seminarian, while riding a train home from the seminary, I was seated beside a soldier just back from the Vietnam War, who was eager to talk. When he found out that I was studying to be a priest, he insisted that I was in for a life of emptiness and gloom. A person “without sex” could never be happy, he said. Sadly, this view is shared by many who do not know Jesus. In fact, a life of promiscuity is the sure road to a broken heart, not happiness. Only the virtuous man or woman tastes the goodness of the Lord. St Irenaeus wrote in the 2nd century, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.” God created us to know, to love and to serve Him in this world and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.
For good reason, the Church celebrates two Sundays each year that highlight God’s gift of joy: Laetare Sunday in the middle of Lent and Gaudete Sunday in the middle of Advent—today’s Feast. We need to be reminded at least two Sundays a year: that God created us for happiness.
The Sacred Readings today overflow with joy. The Prophet Isaiah says (61:10), “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul.” St. Paul urges us in his First Letter to the Thessalonians (5:16), “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks.” In our response to the First Reading today, the Church invites us to sing with Mary the Magnificat. In it are those wonderful words, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.”
The Gospel text today presents the testimony of John the Baptist. Even before John was born, he leapt for joy in his mother’s womb when Jesus drew near, carried in the womb of Mary. The first thing that the 4th Gospel account tells about John the Baptist is that he came “to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.” The crowd, hoping that John might be the Messiah, asked him, “Who are you?” Knowing their mistaken thoughts, he plainly stated, “I am not the Christ.” So, they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”
The crowds were ready to crown John as the Messiah; they wanted an earthly king that would defeat the Roman army, but John would have none of it. He knew the difference between the false happiness of popularity or power and real happiness that comes as a gift from God to those who do His will. So, he said quite plainly, “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord… I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
Notice how John the Baptist draws our attention to the coming of the Lord. That’s the coming that really matters, not the messenger who announces His coming. The coming that transforms the world, the coming that brings an end to sin and that conquers death is the coming of Jesus.
As we celebrate the Birth of Jesus every year we are reminded of where happiness can be found. Wherever God is present, there is mercy, there is joy. He is with us, in the Sacraments – especially in Confession and the celebration of the Eucharist. And He is with us in daily life through His Holy Spirit.
Happiness here on earth is bound closely with constant prayer and gratitude. Did you notice how St. Paul puts joy, prayer and gratitude side by side in our SECOND READING (I Thess 5:18): “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks.”
Is it really possible to do this? Can rejoicing, prayer and gratitude be our non-stop behavior? Not on our own strength, it can with the Holy Spirit. What a difference it makes in a home when the parents are always cheerful. How blest is the marriage where gratitude pervades the day. E.G.: There was a mother of 8 children whose husband was tragically killed in an accident. Overwhelmed with grief, this new widow struggled all night in prayer. Then, she received this insight: she said to herself, “The last thing my children need now is a mother who is absorbed in sorrow. So, she resolved that, every morning she would have beautiful music playing in the home—every morning, no matter what. And so she did.
The Church in Russia has given us the “Jesus Prayer” to help us pray always: Two words, “Jesus” when I breathe in, and “Mercy” when I breathe out. When walking, when driving, when trying to fall asleep, just repeat those two words in rhythm with our breathing. Pray without ceasing. With the help of the Holy Spirit, it is possible, and it helps us rejoice always. Prayer is the opening of our heart to God; joy is the natural response to being with the Lord. As Isaiah says (61:10), “In God is the joy of my soul.” There is an unbreakable connection between God and joy. Without Him, we are miserable. With Him, even in sorrow, we can experience peace that the world cannot give.
