3rd Sunday of Advent

Here is a question to consider.
Is our faith based on fear?
Or                                                                                                    
Is our faith based on joy?
I believe one of the most unique characteristics of the Christian faith, is the fact that ours is a faith based in joy not in fear.
Yet it seems we often behave as if we are scared to death of God,  And  Each other!
Covid 19 has not helped...
We are masked,
We don’t hug,
We rarely shake hands…
The sense of isolation from one another is immense and
Growing…
I remember growing up
Serving mass and many of the priests I served with did everything with rote precision
But without any emotion,
Without any joy.
It was as if they had been given magic and we were to just watch it…every Sunday
And
It was an attitude too….
We can do it…you can’t…you watch, you give and you leave
Don’t question authority,
Don’t question tradition,
And especially,
Don’t question Sacred Scripture
If I was to be 100% honest,
I would say I was raised with a faith based in fear…
Manifested most in that famous prayer…The Act of Contrition

Oh my God! I am heartily sorry
for having offended Thee and
I detest all my sins because
I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell;
But most of all because I have offended Thee, My God,
Who art all-good and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace,
To confess my sins, to do penance,
And to amend my life. Amen.

That being said….
I have struggled to evolve my faith to the realm of joy rather than fear….
Yet old habits, old teachings, old understandings….especially those engrained in us in childhood are nearly impossible to eradicate….
I believe this Sunday…this celebration in the midst of Advent
Reminds us…
That our foundation is joy, not fear.
Jesus said…I have come that you might have life and have it most abundantly!
If we looked at the Scriptures and at Jesus’ life, I think we would find that “joy” was at the center of many of the things he did.
His getting lost in the Temple,
The wedding feast at Cana,
The feast with Simon,
The meal with the tax collector,
The sermon on the mount
And
The sermon on the plain….
Yet we for some reason have turned faith into fear, and doubt into taboo.
Just think how amazingly freeing it would be to allow joy to be our foundation and questioning to be the norm for learning….
I don’t know about you, but I do not believe that holiness or even piety excludes joy….
In fact…I believe it is the opposite…holiness and piety, when they are being lived authentically are expressed in joy.
We pray it every week….
“Deliver us oh God from every evil and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy and love keep us from from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joy filled hope for the coming of our savior Jesus the Christ….”
When I die I want to meet my savior with a smile, not with a frown,
Maybe you do too?