Traditionally, this third weekend of Advent marks a transition from the more penitential and apocalyptic aspects of Advent to a spirit of joyful expectation as Christmas approaches. Of course, Christmas (as we observe it now) has been in constant celebration for almost a month already. Yet, speaking personally, this year I have found it hard to get too much into the Christmas spirit. Perhaps, as we age, time seems to pass faster, and thus Christmas has just crept up on us quicker and caught me busy about other things and otherwise unready. Or maybe, despite the surrounding Christmas ambience, this really just isn't a very joyful time in 2024 America.
By any measure, this has been a difficult year. Personally, for me, it has been a year of health challenges - knee replacement surgery and rehab, covid (twice), sleep problems, etc. It has also obviously been a very difficult year for our country - and our wider world. Enough has been said already about the election and its ramifications in terms of national divisions, political polarization, and loss of trust in our institutions and in one another. This has also been a year of wars, international and civil, and all the human and social suffering that inevitably accompany such conflicts. Add to all that the natural calamities we have increasingly experienced - fires and drought, not just in California but also in New York and New Jersey, complemented elsewhere by storms and floods! Yes, this has been a difficult year!
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
[Philippians 4:4-7]
However jarring it may feel this year, this traditional Gaudete Sunday message is the season's much needed corrective to the malaise many may understandably be experiencing at the present moment. It reminds us that Christmas comes faithfully in good times and bad, in peace and in war, in prosperity and recession, in unity and division. Hence the perennial appeal of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - famously introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 musical Meet Me in St. Louis.
Have yourself a merry little ChristmasLet your heart be lightNext year all our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little ChristmasMake the yuletide gayNext year all our troubles will be miles away
Once again as in olden daysHappy golden days of yoreFaithful friends who were near to usWill be dear to us once more
Someday soon we all will be togetherIf the fates allowUntil then, we'll have to muddle through somehowSo have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
Of course, we today, no more than Judy Garland in 1944, fully expect all our troubles to be out of sight and miles away. The carol, for all its sad and melancholy vibe, is an invitation to hope, which is, of course, the spirit of Christmas.
On this Gaudete weekend, we are invited to take the nearness of the Lord seriously as our entry into the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, which makes Christmas something deeper and more fulfilling that the ephemeral lights of December and sounds of the season.
No comments:
Post a Comment