Be Joyful!

1. Your kindness should be known to all (Philippians 4:5). Traditionally, this Sunday is known as Gaudate Sunday, that is Rejoice Sunday, because Advent is halfway over and Christmas is almost here. To remind ourselves to rejoice, we light the pink candle and the priests wear rose colored vestments. For those who do not know Christ, or for those who might know of Him but do not know His Body the Church, we Catholics are often accused of being a dour and depressed bunch of people. I believe it is largely because we advocate fasting and going to Confession and doing penances and carrying our Cross. Of course on the other hand we are also often accused of partying too much with our general approval of dancing and permitting people to drink responsibly etc…
2. Anyway, even sometimes Catholics themselves look upon our relationship with God as something which is somber or scary or depressing or at least not filled with joy. Maybe it is our fear or misunderstanding of the Sacrament of Penance (that is Confession). We often fear Confession as if it is a moment of condemnation. When in reality it is a moment of liberation and forgiveness. Even the Bible speaks of these somber feelings. In the book of Job, Job begged God to leave Him alone. There are times when people are afraid to pray hoping that God will forget about them and leave them alone.
3. I never had that feeling, but a long time ago I convinced myself that the only way to do God’s will was to accept disasters in my life (which is true in a way). But I became unable to pray for anything good to happen. And worse, I began to expect the worst all the time, as if that was the only way God would treat me. I had to learn that I was God’s son. All of us are His beloved Children. To be God’s child is not to get everything that we want. Our desires are not always what is best for us, or best for the plan of salvation. Still, the Lord desires us to be filled with joy.
4. In John's Gospel, we read: As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete (John 15:9-11). That is what we believe as Catholics- Jesus greatly desires our joy to be complete. But it will not be complete until we know and love Him the way He loves us.
5. The joy of remaining in the love of Christ is expressed in imitating His love. Saint Paul said Your kindness should be known to all. That is, to express our joy in the Lord through kindness to others. This manner of rejoicing is actually natural to us in areas that we would not necessarily define as “religion.” Many people mark the engagement to marry of themselves or their children with gift giving or the renewal of family relationships so that others could share their joy. Or when you get your first job and in your joy look for ways that you can be generous to those who supported you in school. For some, when their team wins a game, they are joyful and generous as well.
6. Those are but a few examples. John the Baptist gives others. For example, treating people fairly, sharing your goods with those in need, or simply being satisfied with your pay. These actions are expressions of contentment and trust. If we really believe that God is the creator of all things, and that He has the power to provide for everyone, and that the Lord is a loving God, then why shouldn’t we be content? If we know that God has prepared a place in His home for us, why shouldn’t we trust? If we claim that God is kind and merciful, what should stop us from sharing that kindness and mercy to others? If Jesus is the One whom we love above all other people and things, we have every reason to be joyful, for His birthday is almost here.

The Meaning of Suffering

Readings for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, year B.
1. Job was an upright man whom the Lord permitted to be tested through personal disaster, the death of his children, and through grave illness. Although Job strove to remain righteous by recognizing everything that he had was a gift from God, he nevertheless arrived at the point which we hear about in the first reading. The days were going by fast, the nights slowly. We may have the benefit of all kinds of technology, but Job’s experience is a universal human experience of suffering. We too may have had times in which the seconds seem to drag by, but the days pass all too quickly and there is no rest from our troubles.
2. The problem of suffering of whatever kind is the subject matter of the book of Job. The friends of Job try to convince him that he is guilty of some sin. Shall you say: "My teaching is pure, and I am clean in your sight"? But oh, that God would speak, and open his lips against you, And tell you that the secrets of wisdom are twice as effective: So you might learn that God will make you answer for your guilt (Job 11:4-6) But Job cannot identify any such sin. When Job breaks down and asks God to explain why things are the way they are, God does not answer his question. Instead God asks Job to explain the universe, which of course Job cannot. In the end of the Book, God restores Job to his previous happiness. The philosophical conclusion of the book is that suffering is a mystery not fully comprehensible.
3. At the time of Jesus most people held that illness and other disastrous problems were a direct result of sin, much like the friends of Job tried to convince him. Jesus does not denounce all of this kind of thinking, but neither does He go with it. (To the Paralyzed man, Jesus said your sins are forgiven (Mark 2:5); but regarding the man born blind Jesus said Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him (John 9:3) As Catholics, we believe that in the big picture, suffering entered the world through sin. Nevertheless not all suffering is the result of a particular sin. As human beings however, we must admit that we often try to explain our suffering in that regard. We ask God “Why me? What did I do to deserve this...?” And there is not always an answer. It is true that God permits the suffering. Nothing continues to exist without at least God’s silent permission. But He does not cause it. Scripture says Because God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living (Wisdom 1:13).
4. With the advent of Jesus, however, suffering undergoes a change. When Jesus confronts suffering or illness, He heals the person. Regardless of what is the cause, sin or a natural problem, He heals it, such as He did for Simon Peter’s mother in law and all the others who came to the house (see Mark 1:29-34). Jesus’ mercy went out to those who were oppressed or possessed by evil spirits. It only took a word from Him and the demons left people alone.
5. When we read of these miraculous healings we might be amazed. In our modern, scientific manner we might be convinced that there are perfectly natural explanations to all these miracles. But miracles still happen. I saw someone on her deathbed with cancer. Her organs were failing, her skin color was bright orange, and she burning up with the fever that often precedes death. I anointed her and left fully expecting to never see her alive again. But two weeks later she was back in Church completely well and no trace of cancer in her body.
6. Likewise I knew someone so oppressed by evil that even saying the prayer Come Holy Spirit caused him great distress, and being sprinkled with Holy Water made him become as stiff as a board. Yet later, through the power of Jesus he was freed from the oppression and able to praise God freely.
7. The change that overtook suffering when Jesus appeared is not simply that He exercised authority and power to free people from their pain and sorrow and shared that power with others. Rather Jesus , in His own Passion and Death Jesus gave suffering a new meaning. Previously, suffering was for the most part a sign of sin, a result of the Fall of Adam and Eve. But now, it has become a means of being united with God. It does not indicate that suffering is never the result of sin, it means that Jesus has taken the curse and turned it into a blessing because in our crosses, we become like Jesus Himself.
8. Our world is in great need of the transformation of suffering. The suffering of the innocent often leads to people rejecting God, whereas in Christ we can turn to God for healing. And despair over suffering has lead many people to embrace such sins as suicide and euthanasia. I am not speaking only in terms of their interior acceptance, but in practice. For example in some places, it is possible for a doctor to administer poisons to an elderly or sick person. Such attitudes and behavior have severe consequences for our society. Could a doctor remain committed to health if he or she regularly administered death? Would not the insurance industry be tempted to require the death of certain types of patients in order to avoid costly treatment? (It has not happened, but what if it did?) And what would happen to us, if we as Christians rejected the Cross or refused our share in the cross of Christ? (Make no mistake that is what it would be. ) Would our sufferings truly be over because we avoided them in this world? Are we to become so short sighted that we would fail to see the big picture of eternity? We are not made only for this life, but forever.
9. On the other hand, those who unite themselves to Christ, even if they suffer have hope, for there is nothing which can separate from God’s love in Jesus Christ. There is hope that the Lord can cure us, and He can. But there is still hope if the Lord chooses to delay our healing until the resurrection on the Last Day, when every tear will be wiped away. Suffering is indeed a mystery, but it is not without meaning and grace. The cross is the instrument of our salvation and it is the means of our union with the entire Jesus Christ. Through Christ, through His passion and death, suffering has been transformed into power and thus been overcome.