While Gaudete Sunday, the halfway point of Advent, carrying the theme of joy, is a week away, I can't help but notice how joy permeates this weekend's readings.
God is making His presence known in our world. The reality that He comes and wants to be in a relationship with us is truly reason for great joy, something that stirs in us a deep longing for Him. We can be filled with the joy that filled St. Paul as he marveled at the work God was doing in the Philippians' Church.
It is joy that comes to us in circumstances of sorrow and gloom, as the Israelites experienced when they were coming back from exile to a desolated Jerusalem. The prophet Baruch urged them to throw off their "robe of mourning and misery", instead rejoicing that God was coming to be present with them in a special way, bringing a glorious new sense of life to all the Earth, even in their own lives.
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