Third Sunday of Advent B - Joy in the Lord
December 2008
Today I want to look at the image I portray.
I must say that I have a grudging respect for Senator John McCain in his bid to be the next American president. He probably knew from the very outset that no Republican could realistically hope to win the election after eight years of President Bush.
Yet he was irrepressibly upbeat and portrayed an unshakeable optimism up to the very end.
For the politician, image is just a mask to be changed or adjusted as the polls dictate and is meant to conceal the real person.
For a Christian there can be no masks.
What I portray must be what I am.
As a Christian what image do I project?
Of course what I am differs from person to person. My personality, my health etc. will inevitably affect the image I project.
But when all is said and done, when all adjustments are made, I, as a Christian, should project the image of a person at peace with themselves and with their God.
The opening word and the theme of today’s Mass is ‘let us rejoice.’
Lest we begin to take ourselves too seriously. Lest we concentrate too much on our need for repentance and reconciliation; today the Church says - Hey!! Snap out of it. Rejoice. The Lord is near; is in fact with you. Do not worry about anything. Thrust in God. Frolic. Kick up your heels. Rejoice.
This is the meaning of today’s second reading;
Phil. 4:4-7. ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’
This is what Christianity does for me. This is the image that I must project. This is evangelization. This is what will attract people to Christianity.
Why look nostalgically to the past - it is past and will never come again.
Why worry and fret about the future? It is unknown.
As for the present we are told by Jesus in Jn 14. ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.’