Dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus, here are three
beautiful quotations taken from each of our three readings today:
Sing aloud, O daughter of Sion,
shout O Israel! Rejoice and exult with
all your heart O daughter of Jerusalem! …. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in
your midst … a mighty One Who will save; HE WILL
REJOICE OVER YOU WITH GLADNESS, He will quiet you by His love; HE WILL EXULT OVER YOU with loud singing … you will no
longer suffer reproach. (Zephaniah)
Rejoice in the Lord always, again I
will say, rejoice … do not be anxious over anything … and the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus. (Philippians)
I baptize you with water, but He
Who is mightier than I is coming, … He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and fire. (St.
Luke)
Thanks to those readings we have an easily forgotten truth
thrust to the forefront of our minds today: namely, that the loving faith and
obedience of those of His children at Holy Mass today – that is you, dear
People of God whom God the Father first directed to Jesus -- and your ‘quiet’
trust and confidence in His own fatherly love for you, is so very pleasing
to God, the Father of us all that the prophet Zephania did not hesitate to
describe it with words, as it were straining at the leash, to help us to
understand them:
HE WILL REJOICE OVER YOU WITH GLADNESS,
HE WILL EXULT OVER YOU WITH LOUD SINGING.
Can one speak of God like that? Isn’t that too human a way of speaking??
Zephania did not know about the HOLY TRINITY, he only
knew of the God of Israel, but didn’t he express a most amazing fulness of
divine rejoicing?
Rejoice and exult with all your
heart O daughter of Jerusalem! The King
of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst!
There he speaks of the Father; Jesus was not appreciated
by His Jewish brethren!
A mighty One Who will save; HE WILL
REJOICE OVER YOU WITH GLADNESS, He will quiet you by His love;
Now, those words do express Jesus’ love for His people.
Surely there we hear something of the Most Holy
Spirit delighting, transporting, the awareness and majestic humility of God the
Father?
Dear People of God, you who are today spiritually
offering the crucified Jesus to the heavenly Father, thanks to the Holy Spirit guiding
your heart and mind in sympathy with your sacrificing priest at the altar … you
who are thereby fulfilling your Lord-and-Saviour’s dearest wish, and are
also inviting the Holy Spirit’s most expressive joy to resonate within your own
hearts … you dearly beloved Catholic Christians are -- in this sacred hour --
giving, causing, such joy for your heavenly Father, that Zephaniah’s words, wondrous
though they are, are by no means enough.
That spiritual outpouring of Zephaniah needs to be expressed
in Apostolic and Catholic fulness and truth by our other two readings from St.
Paul:
The peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus;
and then from St. Luke quoting most appropriately St. John
the Baptist concerning JESUS:
HE
will baptize you with the HOLY SPIRIT and fire.
Jesus always knew that His service was pleasing to His
Father and that gave Him insuperable strength and an unbreakable resolve in seeking
to do His Father’s will at all times for our salvation. And a certain measure of that confidence and
joy of belonging to, and being beloved of God in Jesus, should encourage and embolden
each of you here in your relationship with the Father Who has a specific
purpose for your uniquely individual
life as a child of His, even IN THIS WORLD OF DARKNESS.
Dear Catholic and Christian People of God, ‘rejoice in the Lord always’ and always endeavour to make His love the ultimate joy and delight of your life for Jesus.
