This Advent, we pause to reflect on its meaning and significance, with weekly insights from members of the Diocesan Council for Consecrated Life.
“Rejoice with joy and singing“ – Isaiah 35:2
Sr Antoinette Doyle RSM. Image: Supplied
Today is also called Gaudete Sunday. The word Gaudete means “rejoice.” The late Pope Francis said in a homily in 2014, that Gaudete Sunday is the Sunday of Joy and he reflected that people should “think of all the good things life has given.”
We have many reasons for joy in our lives, but the central reason for joy is the gift of the divine presence of God in our lives and in creation. At this time of the year, there are many wonderful things to reflect upon. The season of summer embraces us with many reasons to be joyful as we wait in anticipation – warmer weather, long days, time to stop and be, catching up with family and friends, holidays and of course the celebration of Christmas – Christ among us. When I reflect on these reasons, I want to spontaneously exclaim “God, it’s good to be alive.” That’s joy!
The first reading today from Isaiah 35:1-10 speaks of the joy and restoration that God will bring to his people who have been patient and have not given up hope while waiting for deliverance from captivity, describing how the desert will bloom and the weak will be strengthened. Isaiah is visualising the restoration of the earth and all who dwell in it. He concludes by saying, “the ransomed of the Lord shall return… everlasting joy will be on their heads; and they shall obtain joy and gladness.”
We hear in the second reading the Apostle James (5:7-10) encouraging believers to be patient as they await the coming of the Lord. He uses the metaphor of a farmer waiting for the harvest. This letter was written during a time of persecution. James suggests that the people look to the prophets who were despised by their own, yet never gave up hope.
The Gospel Reading of Matthew (11:2-11) tells of familiar story of John the Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets who was in prison. John sends his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the one to come. Jesus responds by affirming his works – the blind can see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised and the poor have Good News brought to them. John would have been encouraged by Jesus’ words, “No one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
These readings reflect the themes of joy, hope and anticipation, all part of the Advent season which are focusing on the fact that the kingdom of God is near and his promises would be fulfilled.
There is great joy to be found in creation as we have discovered in this week’s readings. We are surrounded each day by wonder and awe of creation – the simple joy in seeing the sun rise at dawn replacing the dark of night, the stars sparkling and twinkling in the night sky, the curiosity of a magpie seeking food to feed its young, the spider building its perfect and intricate web. Take the time to stop and rejoice in God’s creation, if only for a moment each day. Take the time to reflect that God – the Divine presence – is in our whole lives and also in creation. These are some of the good things in our lives – rejoice and be thankful!
Mary Oliver, the American poet in her poem ‘Mindful’, challenges us to find something small each day where we find joy just as joy, anticipation and hope were so much part of the lives of those in our readings today.
“Every day, I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight that leaves me like a needle in a haystack of light. It is what I was born for to look, listen, to lose myself inside the soft world, to instruct myself over and over in joy.”
Sr Antoinette Doyle RSM is a Parramatta Sister of Mercy. She is currently the Congregation Secretary and was previously involved in education and pastoral care. With a passion to make children more aware of God’s presence in their lives, she teaches Christian Meditation and mindfulness to primary school children. She is also a member of the Diocesan Council for Consecrated Life.
This reflection underpins our commitment to Formation under the Diocesan Pastoral Plan. Visit Synodality to learn more.
