Shout for Joy!
by Father Robert Monagle, Ch, Lt Col, USAF
Sunday’s First Reading from Zephaniah struck a chord for me as it tells us, “Shout for joy…Sing joyfully…Be glad and exult with all your heart.” This reading expresses excitement about following God. The prophet was not afraid to share his faith. Advent is a time of preparing for Christmas but, how do we prepare to celebrate the birthday of Christ?
The Church reminds us Advent is a time to prepare our hearts by turning away from sin and making straight our paths. Growing up in Boston, as the Church celebrated getting people in the spirit of repentance, merchants as well as most of society tried to get us in the spirit through gift buying, decorations and special music. No one hid the fact that Christmas was a national holiday and people would be off from work to celebrate this special day with family and friends. People were excited to celebrate Christmas and celebrate Christ.
Yet, our nation changed. About a decade ago people started to get concerned about sharing Christmas joy with others. People became afraid to say “Merry Christmas” for fear of offending someone. I was stationed in England when Americans started saying “Happy Holidays.” A Royal Air Force Commander said to me, “What’s wrong with your country? In England we call it Christmas because that’s what we are celebrating, not some generic holiday.” Incidentally, the word “holiday” comes from “holy day”, so you really can’t take the “holy” out.
Being in the military, I’ve spent Advent on different continents. In Europe, many countries openly get ready for Christmas with “Christmas markets” or “Advent markets” as they are coined in Austria. In deployed locations, like Saudi Arabia, Christmas celebrations are against the law; Christmas trees are even banned from the country. Americans are fortunate to have religious freedom where we can celebrate our religious faith with joy as Zephaniah tells us to do. Sunday’s Second Reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians echoes this sentiment, as St. Paul reminds us “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” Faith gives us reason to rejoice. Yes, we need to turn away from sins but, we do this with confidence because Jesus teaches us that God is a God of mercy willing to forgive us from our sins. God gives us another chance, a reason to rejoice.
Sunday’s Gospel from Luke, describes the crowd asking John the Baptist “What should we do” to receive God’s forgiveness. John tells them to change their lives, stop sinning, and do better! Today’s readings remind us of the Church’s teaching: Advent is a time of repentance, yet rejoice because receiving God’s forgiveness is joyful. No matter where you are this Advent, repent, but be joyful because God has not condemned you for your sins. Instead, God has given you another chance!
Father Monagle is an active-duty Air Force Chaplain currently serving Airmen as the Deputy Command Chaplain for Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.