Sunday Reflection: Isaiah 61: 1-2a, 10-11

Today marks the third Sunday of Advent, or as it is more commonly known as, Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is a Latin word meaning rejoice. In grammatical terms, this verb is serving as an imperative. It is a command. The term comes from Saint Paul's letter to the Thessalonians where he tells them to rejoice always. Given the times we live in, it would be easy for one to question this. We live in very dark times. There are multiple wars raging around the wars. Countries are more politically divided then ever before. Finances are struggling for many of us. What have we to rejoice for?

We cannot the context in which Saint Paul was writing, as he wrote those words from a Roman prison cell awaiting a death sentence. If he can rejoice in his situation, then we definitely can in ours. When he was telling us to rejoice, Paul was writing in the very same spirit as Isaiah in the passage in the first reading. It reads as follows:

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

because the LORD has anointed me;

he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,

to heal the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives

and release to the prisoners,

to announce a year of favor from the LORD

and a day of vindication by our God.

I rejoice heartily in the LORD,

in my God is the joy of my soul;

for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation

and wrapped me in a mantle of justice,

like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem,

like a bride bedecked with her jewels.

As the earth brings forth its plants,

 and a garden makes its growth spring up,

so will the Lord GOD make justice and praise

spring up before all the nations.

Isaiah may be writing in first person here, but his message relates to all of us. God has extended his hand down to us and has offered us the gift of salvation. For this alone, we ought to rejoice. Our God has saved us and is coming again to bring about His New Kingdom with all who follow him. Joy is the fruit the virtue of Hope. Our Hope is in our God who is returning and we are assured of this through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

As those who have put our Faith and Hope in our God's return, we have been given a mission. Our mission is the same as that of Isaiah. Care for the poor, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives. Christ echos this call in the Great Commission where he tells us to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As members of Christ's kingdom there are expectations of us. Christ has said that if we love him, we are to keep his commands. The Grace of God that is given through true faith and true hope is deeply transformative and orients the human will to the divine will. Therefore, if we truly love Christ, it will be easy to keep His commands because His grace will have already properly disposed us to do so.

I now echo our brother Paul, and remind us all to rejoice always, for our faith and hope are in so great and glorious a redeemer, who has come to save us all and will come again to restore the world back to it's unfallen state. If one of us falls into circumstances where it is difficult to find joy, it is the duty of the rest of us as one family to encourage and help lift them back up, for we are all running this race together.