When I was just a child, I knew when Christmas was coming. My Kuya Lambert, our eldest sibling, would usher in the merriest of seasons for the whole family. He was then studying here in Manila, at the University of Sto Tomas. And around this time of the year, classes would cease for the holidays. He would ride the bus at night and reach our town early in the morning. I would be awakened as if from a dream hearing people chattering gleefully and rather noisily. It would be my brother and the rest of the family already in our room, catching up with stories. I would smile at my brother, hug him, and then he would open his bags as my siblings and I waited for our Christmas presents. I remember how we scrambled or fought over our favorite, Pringles Potato chips. Wala pa po kasi nun sa Naga, di pa uso dahil sobra pang mahal. And so that was how my brother, year in and year out, brought Christmas joy to our home. But it wasn’t really the presents or the pringles. It was the happiness we felt because every time he returned home, we were complete as a family, we felt whole again, and our hearts were full again.
I remember all this because on Gaudete Sunday, we are asked to rejoice, to celebrate in advance Christmas joy. At the same time, however, in our liturgy today, there is someone who mediates that joy for us. The lone ranger that is John the Baptist. Yes, we know him as the precursor of our Lord. The one who prepares the way of the Lord. As prophet, he is the fearless spokesperson of God, challenging us to mend our ways just as historically he spoke to power, lambasting the Jewish leaders and the Roman empire. Certainly, he is all these. But on Gaudete Sunday, on this day of joy, he also comes to us as the harbinger or bearer or carrier of joy. Like my brother, John ushers in Christmas joy. In fact, he signals its coming.
So very simply, today, dear friends, we can just recall the John the Baptists in our lives. Those who are instrumental for the joy we experience in our lives. Recall and thank them. We often take them for granted. Or forget about them. Today and in this season, we remember them. They could be our friends. As one saying goes, friends are the elixirs of life. They lift us up when we are down. Through simple conversations, or a shared meal or a short trip out of manila, friends fill our lives with joy and love. Certainly, our John the Baptists can be our own family members. A married friend, for example, was telling me how their lives have been made easy because his and his wives parents help them out in taking care of their children. Yes, the grandparents make the family burden lighter, and in that way, bring precious joy in the family. And there are many more John the Baptists in our lives, harbingers, instruments of joy into our lives. This Sunday and this Christmas season, I hope we are able to remember them, thank them and pray for them.
But you may ask, going back to our liturgy today: how can John be a beacon of joy? He definitely does not look it. He is feisty, fierce, and ferocious. Always gearing up for a fight. He is ascetical, abstinent and extremely abstemious. John does not readily come across as a happy or joyful person. I have been giving recollections the last two weeks on the theme of Christmas joy. And in particular, sharing with people that in the biblical accounts of the first Christmas, joy is not about feelings or emotions or sentiments. Joseph’s joy, for example, is all about duty, of having a sense of purpose or mission in life. He was a righteous person as the Gospel describes him, that is, his joy, like a typical Jews comes from observing and following the Law, or God’s covenant with Israel. Happiness or the funny fluttering emotion we experience is not the joy of the Gospel. And so, in the Gospel today, John’s message in his preaching, actually is the formula for Christian joy. When asked what the Jews are to do to prepare for the coming of the messiah, his answer was, share what you have with the needy, whether it’s a piece of clothing or food—give, share. Secondly, to the publicans, the predecessors of our BIR, he said, be fair, be just, don’t cheat. And finally to the Roman soldiers, his advice was: don’t use force or violence, be gentle, be peaceful. Generosity, Justice, Gentleness—these sound like the all too familiar and classic poem Desiderata, right? “Go placidly amid the noise and haste… as far as possible be on good terms with all persons, be gentle with yourself, be cheerful, strive to be happy.” Yes, dear friends, John the Baptist on this Gaudete Sunday is teaching us how to find the ever-elusive joy in our lives. He is truly a beacon, an instrument of Christmas and Christian Joy.
So today, we pray. Thank you, Lord, for the John the Baptists in our lives. They who bring precious love and joy to us. We can only pray that we too in our own way can also be instruments of joy for your people. Not just this Advent or Christmas but all year round. Amen.
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