Excitement

Reflection for the Third Sunday of Advent by Fr. Earl A. P. Valdez

If you ask me, nothing expresses excitement more explicitly than children. Whenever they anticipate something that is fun or rewarding for them, their energy levels shoot up. They become extra active, doing everything from cleaning the house, studying well, and being extra respectful to their parents. They have this sense that when doing what is expected of them, they could get the reward that they expect. Surprisingly, this happens even if one does not need to do something in order to get rewarded. The promise of being able to get something that one really wants, assuming that this is made by someone very familiar and close to them, their excitement is shown by the things that they do and the sentiments they express with their gestures and their works. 

But then, this is also something very common to us adults, despite the fact that the realities of life seem to wane our capacity to be excited. We don’t need to stray far from our celebration to find such examples. Some of us did our Christmas preparations as Filipinos during the beginning of the -ber months, when Jose Mari Chan’s “Christmas in Our Hearts” already started playing (coupled with that meme of his head peeking with the caption. “Miss me?”). During these times, we already started filling up our schedules for our Christmas parties and gatherings, and trying to fit our budget for a good vacation out of town, or for gifts to give when these gatherings come. 

Perhaps if we look at it and reflect on it on a larger scale, we understand what our readings today speak of. Perhaps this is the kind of excitement that the people of Israel felt when the prophets have spoken of the Lord’s promise to His Kingdom, giving them enough patience and hope to wait for that fulfillment despite the many defeats they experienced and the slavery and exile they went through. Perhaps this was also what John the Baptist must have felt when, even confined in his prison walls, he heard of what his cousin Our Lord Jesus Christ does; after all, this came as a confirmation and an affirmation of His words. Thus, John the Baptist’s excitement came due to the fulfillment of these words, and how the Lord’s mercy has touched the people of Israel. 

The excitement of the Lord’s coming fills us with joy in this Third Sunday of Advent, which we come to know as Gaudete Sunday. And perhaps we can dwell on this excitement, and let it go beyond our anticipation for all the festivities and celebrations. More than that, we see our hearts and minds if we are really excited for what true Christmas is, beneath all our festivities. Do we really get excited over the fact that this was a moment that could bring people together, and we allow the exchange of gifts that are more real: the grace of forgiveness between people who were wounded, the grace of being able to share what we have with those who have none, the grace of new possibilities that remain open to us despite having moments of failures and indecisions? 

Giovanni di Paolo, “John the Baptist Visited by the Disciples” | Photo from Wikimedia

This remains within the spirit of what St. Paul says in the second reading, which hearkens back to the fact that we are still in the Advent season, and therefore be patient. He tells us to still remain in anticipation, so that we can set our attention beyond the sources of our excitement that are immediate and material, and toward the true things that bring fulfillment. He helps us remember that even the prophets worked hard and suffered just to bring this message for all those who desire to understand, and in a world where the celebration of many people remain within exchange gifts and Christmas part, our anticipation for Christ comes in the silent spaces where the sounds of the karaoke and the shopping sprees happen. 

Put simply, he calls us to celebrate Christmas in the sharing of those who have little or almost none, in the daily labor of people who struggle to live, and in the areas of our lives that we do not even speak of because we find it too shameful, disgusting, and wounded. In the same way that the Lord will come in the silent space outside of Jerusalem, we can focus on these during Advent and be excited over the promise that the Lord will come to heal our woundedness, to lead us to sharing our lives with others, and to save us from our own self-centeredness and lead us to love truly. 

When we say these things, they sound really boring and uninteresting, especially when we compare them to the bright lights and the blaring sounds of Christmas parties. And yet, this is where the Lord could first be found before anything else. May we be people who become truly excited over the Lord’s coming, most particularly in these areas in which we need Him most.