he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question,
"Are you the one who is to come,
or should we look for another?"
Jesus said to them in reply,
"Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me."
Week 3. The week of peace and joy.
After reviewing the Sunday gospel reading for what is the Sunday of Joy, Laudate Sunday, The pink candle Sunday, I find little that evokes either peace or joy in heart.
Sure, the business of miracles happening is grand news, maybe even great news but here is a news flash. I am not blind, I can walk just fine, I can hear just fine unless you ask my wife or female coworkers, I am certainly not dead and, if I can believe my bank statements, I am not poor, at least not in terms of, money.
What is more, in today's day and age, healing and cleansing is more a matter of good medicine practiced by competent physicians and there is not much reliance on faith healers except in the margins of our culture.
Where is the joy in all of that? I hate be skeptical and a naysayer which, given the frequency of how often I am guilty of both things, can't be true but, still, what is all of the shouting about?
Hmm, maybe we should revisit the Gospel one more time. I remember hearing, "and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them."
I passed it by the first time because it was so simply and quietly stated. The good news is being shared. What is the good news? The answer is big, huge, in fact. The good news was the entirety of the Gospels were being lived out right in front of them. The gospels that preached forgiveness, redemption, salvation, spiritual healing, eternal life, happiness in spirit and in everyday life. Being loved, being encouraged to love. To care for others and be cared for. A message of how to find peace and to share it. The good news is don't I don't need to be afraid, worried, upset, angry or sad. No one does. No matter what others may say about me or what I say about myself, the words and feelings are meaningless and ultimately without the capacity to hurt what lies at the core of my existence, my soul.
Even if I lose my life or all that I own, those things are not truly of value. What is precious, what is rare but could be shared by everyone who has ever lived, is that if I believe, have faith and hope, I will never die. There will be a day when all that I have lost in terms of people will be restored. I know this. I have, in my dreams, visited the house with many rooms where we will all go when it is are time. I have been reassured by just a glimpse, a tiny glimmer of those gone before me into the hereafter that awaits.
That is why this is the season of joy. This is the time when we celebrate the coming of joy into the world and we celebrate so intensely, so deeply and with so much enthusiasm it is as if we will experience the coming of joy just as we should, as if we were present in the manger the first time and were blessed with the foreknowledge of what was coming into the world, our world.
This is the season when hope is completed in joy and with joy, the peace of knowing we are saved. All of us. The next time I sing "Joy to the world" I plan to remember all of this. I hope, no pun intended, you remember too. May you be blessed with peace and joy this day, always and may you share the tidings with everyone we encounter.
It is the least we can do. This is good news, don't you think?
Merry Christmas. May the hope, peace, joy and love of Christ bless you and yours.
