https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121723.cfm
Praise be Jesus Christ – forever and ever. Amen.
This Gaudete Sunday I want to share this story: A rich man wanted his child to see what is
was like to be poor. He took him to visit poor rural sharecroppers to see how
they lived.
As soon as they arrived, the child
felt the difference. He pulled off his shoes and wriggled his toes in the dirt.
He made friends with the children and they screamed with joy as they ran across
the fields and swam in the bayou. He had cookies made from scratch by smiling lady
who laughed a lot and told great stories.
When they left, the boy remembered
everything he did. Running everywhere without care compared to only having a back
yard at home. In the city, hardly any stars are seen at night; but in the country,
more are seen than can be counted. He remembered people living their life with happiness
and joy.
After the family returned to their
wealthy world. The father asked, “Would you rather be rich like this or poor like
them?” The child answered: “I want to be rich like them.”
Jesus proclaimed 'Blessed
are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.’
Who are these poor? In
Hebrew, they were called Anawim? (ann-a-weem) the “poor ones” or the “faithful
remnant” The people who remained faithful to God in difficult times. To the
faithful remnant, the poor, and the broken heart, God sent Isaiah to prophesize.
The poor ones yearning for God sent a man followed John, a voice crying out in
the desert.
The Anawim sang, “Rejoice
in the Lord always; everyone rejoice! The Lord is near.” This Sunday remember Gaudete means, “everyone rejoice.”
Sadly, many people do not know joy. Maybe the reason is that so
many in this world have forgotten the 10th commandment. “You shall
not covet.” That sin can bring to the world the opposite of joy, which is
suffering.
There is much suffering in the world - poverty, violence, war,
disease, and oppression. Covetousness, human greed, makes these things rampant
in the world. The most desired things are power, prestige, and possessions.
In the story about the rich father
and his son, the father considers the poor as those with less things than him. The world is the same. It considers the poor those without the things the world says they must have. For many suffering is not in
being poor, it comes from the sinfulness of coveting things.
This sin can numb a heart and deaden the spirit so one cannot know
joy.
The things most covet, desire, and lust after becomes the real
passion of a soul. They become the world’s false gods that many worship. These
false gods bring false joy.
Most of the time, it is not even a conscious choice. Between here and home, each will be told
the worldly things we need many more times than we will be
told how much we need each other or how much we need God. This wounds
the human heart.
The enemy has always encouraged humanity to put self as the center
of the world.
How often do we hear, “What about my feelings?”
Many pout, “What about my opinions.” And demand, “it must be done
my way.”
The world tells us, these things are important. In these things, you
will find joy.
But, all of this can bring a person to a place far from God. They oppose true happiness and
Godly joy and allow a hardened cocoon of sinfulness to develop around the heart.
From that harden cocoon, many will say, I know Jesus. In that
place, many will say they find joy.
After the father and son returned
to their wealthy world. The father asked his son – would you rather be rich
like this or poor like them? The child
answers, “I want to be rich like them.”
God is found outside the hardened cocoon of self. To know Jesus and
to find true joy requires a move to a place beyond the self-centeredness of
this world. Then you will be able to feel
the difference. Like the boy, pull off your shoes and wiggle your toes in the
dirt. Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil.
You cannot truly know joy if you covet the passions dictated by
the world. To know joy, we must recognize a pure Godly joy –trust in it, believe
in it, and pray unceasingly. Rejoice
heartily in the LORD, in God is the joy of my soul….
Joy is not in the love of the false gods of power, prestige, and
passions. Love only the one true God. In God’s love is where the human heart
can find true and profound joy. The joy that comes from
the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire, which strengthens us - The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because
the LORD has anointed me…, my spirit rejoices….
The poor and faithful remnant are rich
in the joy found in God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “I want to
be rich like them.”
Be good, be holy and in this advent season everyone proclaim the
good news - “Rejoice in the Lord always; everyone rejoice! The Lord is near.”
Praise be Jesus Christ forever and ever. Amen
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