Last Sunday was Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday!

The liturgy repeats the words of St Paul: 

Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice (Philippians 4:4-13).

Being close to Jesus is our happiness, losing through sin is unhappiness. Sin is our only real enemy, and any unhappiness we may feel is usually the result of doing our own will, instead of God’s Will. In fact, all sin is an act of the human will which puts distance between us and God. The Lord brings joy, not affliction. The sorrowful mysteries in life we often bring upon ourselves. God wants us to be joyful. This joyfulness is symbolized by the Rose Candle. Jesus was joyful despite sufferings and rejection. For example, he attended many dinners. One was given by St Mathew in  gratitude for his vocation. Another was given by Zacchaeus; the Pharisees invited Him to dinner. He dined at the home of Lazarus. Jesus also attended a wedding at Cana and when the wine ran out performed His first public miracle by changing water into wine, for the week-long celebrations.

The first step to become happy in the Lord is to give up sin and grow in humility.  Three times in today’s Gospel people asked St John the Baptist: 

What shall we do? 

Each time he told them to give up something and not to be self-indulgent. Our journey of conversion is a journey to unselfishness and to turn our backs on sin. Worldly happiness is poor and transitory and eventually leads to its own loss. But Christian happiness is profound and can exist in the midst, of difficulties and sufferings of all kinds. The martyrs of the Church testify to this. The crosses of our lives should never destroy our joyfulness as Christians. One great martyr of the Church who comes to mind is St Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Priest who was imprisoned in a Nazi Concentration Camp during World War II. He volunteered for the death chamber in place of one of his fellow prisoners, who had been chosen at random by the Nazi officers due to an escape. He was a young husband and father. The jailors reported that whereas the death chambers were usually places of despair and cursing. In this case, the condemned men were singing hymns. St Maximillian was the last one alive in the death chamber and was finished off by the guards with an injection of phenol (carbolic acid), the usual Nazi execution method. He died a martyr, bravely extending his hand towards the injection.

We aren’t all called to martyrdom, but we are all called to die to sin and grow in holiness. This is what St John the Baptist was preaching to the people, the need to prepare a way in their hearts through repentance, obedience to the Ten Commandments and to act justly.  How different the world would be if everyone followed these directives.

Living in communion with God means first of all, obeying His Laws. Obedience is an indispensable virtue for those who love God. It was the ring of obedience with tied the divinity of Christ to His Humanity. Our Heavenly Mother had perfect obedience to the Divine Will, so much so that she never did her own will and thus had not sin whatsoever during her life. The laws of our Creator are built into the universe and the Church insists on upholding moral principles, even if they are unpopular. For example, the Church condemns abortion because abortion kills an unborn baby, and it also does spiritual and psychological harm to the mother and father. The Church also condemns homosexual acts because these are against the laws of God written into our very nature. Homosexual acts are gravely immoral, are a dead-end road and cause psychological harm and deep wounds to the soul of those who engage in them. The Church also condemns pornography and prostitution because they are against human dignity, they poison family values and tear marriages apart. The Church teaches that God is the Author of Life, and the lives He creates are sacred. The Lord wills into existence every life brought into the world as part of His plan for creation. We are made in His image and likeness and as the Supreme Creator, it is He who has mastery over life and death. To interfere with life between conception and natural death is in essence usurping God’s ultimate authority. We are made to know, love and serve Him, and our reproductive capacity mirrors this relationship. Our creative potential is united with God’s in the marital act. Any attempt to end a life through abortion or contraception (which is an abortifacient) defies God’s will for His creation and is strongly condemned by the Church. The marital act should always be open to life.

Thus, the Church today continues the call of St John Baptist for people to repent of past sin and turn back to God by obeying the Divine Will  We have the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes and very clear teaching in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. If we follow these teachings, we will arrive at spiritual maturity.

There are three main enemies we must contend with, and which try to trip us up.

1. The world. Like a current, this pulls us away from a truly meaningful life of moral virtue and usually presents a counter gospel, through the media.
2. The flesh. There is an inner division in us through Original Sin, called “concupiscence”. So, we are attracted to both good and evil.
3. The devil. St Peter warns that he never rests but prowls around like a roaring lion read to lead people into sin and away from God.

We should remember the five stones which Our Lady urges us to use to defeat evil:

1. Praying the Rosary with our heart every day
2. Fasting twice every week
3. Holy Confession every month
4. Receiving the Eucharist every Sunday
5. Reading the Bible every day

Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever.