Praised be Jesus, Mary, and
Joseph!
Simbang gabi begins on Tuesday
and we could almost feel Christmas. We may be excited over the increasing level
of the celebrative mood and this may distract us from the true essence of the
joy which the 3rd Sunday of Advent speaks of. We are given today the
prophecy of Isaiah which was read by the Lord Jesus when he went to preach in
the synagogue of Nazareth. The prophecy says: The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he has anointed me. Obviously, Isaiah was prophesying about Jesus
who is the Christ, the one anointed by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit sends
Jesus to the poor, the brokenhearted, to captives and prisoners. Why the poor,
the brokenhearted, the captives and prisoners? What do they have in common? For
one, these people are sad because they feel neglected and forgotten. These are
the people who have lost everything, (the poor) they have nothing, (the
brokenhearted, the captives, the prisoners) they have no one. (And so, if you
are brokenhearted this Christmas, know that Jesus was sent to you. If you are
poor this Christmas, Jesus was sent to you. If you are captive of anything, if
you are imprisoned by any addiction, know that Jesus was sent to you.) To them
and to us, Jesus was sent to bring glad tidings, healing, and liberty. In other
words, Jesus was anointed to bring Joy. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Joy
and he anoints Jesus to bring joy.
But what joy does the Lord bring
to us? It is the joy of belonging to God. It is the joy of knowing that God has
not forgotten us and has not abandoned us. The proof that he has not forgotten
nor abandoned us is that he sent his Son – his Son who is the manifestation of
God’s tenderness, of his mercy and compassion. Jesus was sent to announce a
year of favor from the Lord. The Lord favors us. The Lord remembers us. Because
of this, we can sing: “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.” This joy is not the happiness of winning a million
dollars which eventually will be spent and exhausted. It is the joy of being
presented in marriage (the joy of a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, the joy
of a bride bedecked with her jewels) – this is the joy of knowing that I am
loved, the joy of knowing that I belong to someone. I am loved not just by
anyone. I am loved by someone who is great, one whose greatness John the
Baptist recognized: the one who is coming after me whose sandal strap I am not
worthy to untie. This great God is in haste to come to me. This great God is in
haste to bring me glad tidings. Nothing will prevent him from coming. St. Paul
said: Do not stifle the Spirit (Huwag ninyo hadlangan ang Espiritu Santo). Let
us not prevent God from bringing us his consolation. Let us not be afraid of
his consolation. I have met a woman who was constantly tormented by the devil.
She was in constant fear of happiness because the devil tormented her with the
thought that if she experiences the slightest happiness, sadness would not be
far behind. She was enslaved by this obsessive thought. Pope Francis tells us
that we should never be afraid of the tenderness of God. We should not prevent
him from giving us his consolations: “Do not be afraid because the Lord is the
Lord of consolation, the Lord of tenderness. The Lord is a Father and he says
that he will be for us like a mother with her baby, with a mother’s tenderness.
Do not be afraid of the consolations of the Lord.” (Francis, Homily for MASS
with Seminarians and Novices, Rome, 7 July 2013.) Let us never hesitate to meet
the Lord Jesus for “the joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who
encounter Jesus. With Jesus Christ joy is constantly born anew.) (Evangelii
Gaudium, 1.)
Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary
conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
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