REJOICE IN THE LORD
Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28
A king instructed his gardener to plant trees to represent different virtues. The gardener planted a palm to symbolise joy.
When the king saw the palm, he said: “I thought you would typify joy with a flowering plant like the tulip. How can the palm symbolize joy?”
The gardener replied: “Flowering trees get their nourishment from open sources in orchards or forests. I found this palm in a desert; its roots had found some hidden spring far beneath the burning surface. Highest joy has a foundation people cannot see and a source they cannot comprehend.”
How true that is! The foundation and source of our joy is God. That’s the emphasis of the readings on “Gaudete Sunday”; they urge us to rejoice… in the Lord.
The first reading from Isaiah invites us to rejoice in God who clothes us with salvation. This invitation is heart-warming because we are the broken-hearted God heals; the poor who receive the glad tidings; the captives he liberates.
In the second reading, Paul urges the Thessalonians to rejoice because the one who calls them is faithful.
In the gospel, John’s response to the Pharisees highlights the primary reason for our joy: Jesus has already come into our world as our saviour.
The liturgy gives us a message of hope.
The readings also give us a mission: to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and—above all—to testify to the light.
What is the source of my joy: the pleasures of the world or God and his liberating and healing love? Will I rejoice in the Lord and joyfully testify to his presence in my life?
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