Praying with Evangelii Gaudium, Day 3: Embracing Advent!

See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, humble and riding on a donkey
                                                                                           Zechariah 9:9




Some minor technical issues caused a day of delay, but I'm back for my third day of reflection on this document! And what a challenging read too!

 The more I read this document, the more I realize how much of  an Advent document this is! The dominant  theme of joy should have tipped me off, but at the same time,  I was still inclined to read it as a regular Vatican document filled with challenges and exhortations to the faithful.  That is, until yesterday, when I read two beautiful citations from the old testament in Section 4b. Both passages are filled with the spirit of hope and joy this season carries with it:  First, from  Zechariah 9  : "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, humble and riding on a donkey" (9:9). A humble king riding on a donkey. No wonder Pope  Francis was inspired by this image! Gone is the image of a dominating monarch that rules with force over his subjects. A new kind of King is among us!

    The image inspired the pope, but his reaction to the second passage  from Zephaniah 3, flat out excited him! It  builds up on the picture of the Lord as a 'victorious' figure,but switching gears,  it focuses on how " he will rejoice over us with gladness, he will renew us in his love; he will exult over us with loud singing" (3:17).  A King who is a  triumphant and victorious warrior, but who at the same is humble, and rejoices over his people with gladness? I don't think there exists a more powerful image for Jesus in this season of joy! What may have inspired Francis, what definitely moved me the most was this idea that, the joy spoken about in this document is not just something that's intended or experienced by us. It's something God experiences every day when He looks upon us. During this season, we get a taste of this joy that God experiences because of His creation 365 days a year. It's incredibly humbling to meditate on this, and yet, perhaps, like so many things in this document, it really is a call for us to live joy more fully!

    How do we live our joy more fully? By imitating John the Baptist, and recognizing that in Jesus, our joy is fulfilled, and complete. (EG 5; Jn 3:29; Jn 15:11) It's one thing to say 'I have joy in my heart because of Jesus'.  It's quite another to say 'My Joy is complete because of Jesus'. What this means, is that this 'stream of joy' (EG 5) is meant to be carried in us even when there is sorrow in our lives, so that the whole world around us can see God's light radiating in us, and be touched by that same joy as well. This is such an important idea, that the emphasis of that 5th point in the text, is the overwhelming presence of joy in the Gospel. It's everywhere,and we have no excuse to not enter this joy! No wonder Francis has so little patience with the 'sourpusses' in our Church! (EG 85)

 That was perhaps my greatest challenge with this section of the exhortation: I get it. We have joy joy joy down in our hearts  (where!?) every moment of every day as Christians. Or do we?  Well, obviously we do not.  Nor is realistic for us to say that's what we strive to. When you're being overwhelmed by work, studies, or personal events, it's hard to see that joy. Francis accepts that. He's not asking everyone to constantly have a smile on their face:  He's telling us that "Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light, born of our personal certainty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved". (EG 6). In other words, no, we may not always feel this joy, but with or without us, it continues to flourish in our life, until we return to it and are able to grow in it. 

Again...humbling stuff! At the same time, it makes perfect sense.  When we feel that we're desolation and there is much grief in our life, we are called to recognize that hope is still within us (EG 6; Lam 3:21). This is something that the Ancient Israelites understood perfectly with their psalms and prayers of lament that usually have a tinge of hope in them. From them, we learn 'it's ok to complain at God, so long as our complaining leads us to the realization that despite everything, and against all odds...Joy dwells within us because God remains faithfully loving to us! God is great indeed!

4 b. Zechariah, looking to the day of the Lord, invites the people to acclaim the king who comes “humble and riding on a donkey”: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he” (9:9).

Perhaps the most exciting invitation is that of the prophet Zephaniah, who presents God with his people in the midst of a celebration overflowing with the joy of salvation. I find it thrilling to reread this text: “The Lord, your God is in your midst, a warrior who gives you the victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing, as on a day of festival” (3:17).

This is the joy which we experience daily, amid the little things of life, as a response to the loving invitation of God our Father: “My child, treat yourself well, according to your means… Do not deprive yourself of the day’s enjoyment” (Sir14:11, 14). What tender paternal love echoes in these words!

5. The Gospel, radiant with the glory of Christ’s cross, constantly invites us to rejoice. A few examples will suffice. “Rejoice!” is the angel’s greeting to Mary (Lk 1:28). Mary’s visit to Elizabeth makes John leap for joy in his mother’s womb (cf. Lk 1:41). In her song of praise, Mary proclaims: “My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour” (Lk 1:47). When Jesus begins his ministry, John cries out: “For this reason, my joy has been fulfilled” (Jn 3:29). Jesus himself “rejoiced in the Holy Spirit” (Lk 10:21). His message brings us joy: “I have said these things to you, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11). Our Christian joy drinks of his brimming heart. He promises his disciples: “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (Jn 16:20). He then goes on to say: “But I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (Jn 16:22). The disciples “rejoiced” (Jn20:20) at the sight of the risen Christ. In the Acts of the Apostles we read that the first Christians “ate their food with glad and generous hearts” (2:46). Wherever the disciples went, “there was great joy” (8:8); even amid persecution they continued to be “filled with joy” (13:52). The newly baptized eunuch “went on his way rejoicing” (8:39), while Paul’s jailer “and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God” (16:34). Why should we not also enter into this great stream of joy?

6. There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter. I realize of course that joy is not expressed the same way at all times in life, especially at moments of great difficulty. Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved. I understand the grief of people who have to endure great suffering, yet slowly but surely we all have to let the joy of faith slowly revive as a quiet yet firm trust, even amid the greatest distress: “My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is… But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness… It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam 3:17, 21-23, 26).