December 13, 2020, 3rd Sunday of Advent (Year B) Theme: “Living in Fullness of Joy” Homily by Fr. Romie Jun Peñalosa Old Testament Proclamation: Isaiah 61:1-4, 10-11 Responsorial Psalm : Psalm 126 New Testament Proclamation: 1Thessalonians 5:16-24 Gospel Proclamation: John 1:6-8; 19-28
There is a reason why we need to rejoice—and the reason for that is because Christ is with us. In His presence, there is fullness of joy and He opens up our hearts so we can express that joy by REJOICING in His presence.
Joy is NOT HAPPINESS; NOT a FEELING but JOY is something deeper, engraved and deep-seated in our hearts that has something to do with our ATTITUDE. Let us seek joy which is permanent in our life rather than happiness that is temporary. Joy is the EVIDENCE in our life not with our happiness but by the ENDURANCE that we have—just like how Jesus endured the pain of the cross and that is because of the JOY that is in Him.
Joy is an ATTITUDE that we need to cultivate. If we want to seek Christ and wait for Him to come in our lives, then we need that JOY in our hearts.
“WE DO NOT KNOW WHO WE ARE” is one of the reasons that prevent us from rejoicing. We do not know our purpose in our life; we do not know who we are or what we are supposed to do.
If we want to experience that JOY deep within us, we need to ask questions that are deep—like WHO AM I? WHY AM I HERE? WHY AM I ALIVE TODAY? And the answers to these questions will DEFINE our life.
Let us NOT define or identify ourselves by what we do; what other people say or what we have or what we have not. Let us derive, define or identify our sense of WORTH and knowing our PURPOSE and deriving from WHO WE KNOW OURSELVES TO BE.
Let us not pretend to be someone we are not! This is why we are not joyful in our lives. It prevents us to rejoice and to be joyful in our lives. We are UNIQUE and each of us is SPECIAL to God.
The moment we discover who we truly are—that is the time where JOY begins to come out. Problems in our lives may come, trials, sadness may come but joy will always be there and cause us to ENDURE those problems, trials, etc. For the JOY of the Lord is our STRENGTH!
Coming to Christ, putting our hope and to seek Him will give us the real identity in our life of who we truly are. Jesus is like a mirror that when we see Him, we see our true self—WHO WE ARE! Let us always put our hope and faith in Christ!
Homily Recap by Carlo Roberto
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