Paul Knitter's Homily from December 17, 2023

CAN WE BE JOYFUL AND THANKFUL ALWAYS?

17 Dec 23

(Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11; 1 Thess 5: 16-24; John 1: 6-8, 19-28)

I begin this morning with a confession: I’ve decided to focus this homily exclusively on today’s second reading – from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians

This is the reading that gives the name to this third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, “Be Joyful Sunday” — and so it explains why the third candle on our wreath is a joyful rose color rather than the usual somber purple.

In focusing on this reading, I’ve dispensed myself from the impossible task of finding a common theme in today’s three readings …. They’re all very rich but also very different from each other.

But the main reason for concentrating on Paul’s reading is that this first letter to the Thessalonians is the oldest of the 27 books of the New Testament; so it’s a kind of a first edition of the Gospel. Paul wrote it around the year 50 — less than 20 years after Jesus was executed.
And in focusing on this reading, I’ve found that this first edition of the Gospel, specifically, these nine verses from chapter 5, offer us a challenge that is at first perplexing and confusing and maybe a bit off-putting, but then, profoundly enriching. I hope I can make that clear this morning.

In the first three verses of this passage, note that all the verbs are in the imperative mood, and each of these verbs is equipped with an astounding, even daunting, adverb:

Paul orders us to “be joyful” “Gaudete” — a rather bold order — but then he makes it ever bolder by adding “always.” Always be joyful.
Then he tells us to “pray” – fine, we can pray — but he adds we are to do so “without ceasing.”
Finally he instructs us to “give thanks” – and then makes clear that we should do so not just when we feel a surge of gratitude but “in all circumstances”

How in the world is this possible? In the midst of what’s happening in our world – the horrible suffering in Gaza, the ever more menacing threat of global warming, a dysfunctional Congress — or in light of what’s perhaps going on in our personal lives as we deal with sickness, loss of partners or friends, depression. How can we be joyful always, give thanks in all circumstances?
That’s why, when I tried to give a title to this sermon (a title always helps me clarify what I want to say) I came up with “Can we be joyful and thankful aways?” Is what Paul is “ordering” us to do even possible?

And, if you allow me a bit of personal interpretation, I suspect that the reason he thinks it is possible to be joyful and thankful always is because of the middle command in our text: “to pray without ceasing.” It’s by praying without ceasing that we have the possibility of always being joyful and grateful.
But I don’t think Paul was talking about prayer of petition, as meaningful as such prayer is.
I think he is calling us to a kind of contemplative, silent prayer, which can be described as simply resting, or abiding, or letting go in the holy Mystery of Love that always holds us, a Mystery that Jesus called “Abba” – Dad/Mom
Such prayer, such moments, require, I think, some element of silence, or silent awareness, in which we stop talking and thinking and just rest, just trust, just open ourselves to receive or to be held.

I think Mother Therese recognized this when at a talk she once gave at Harvard someone asked her: “When you pray, what do you say.” And she answered “Nothing. I keep silent.” And when the questioner asked further: “And what does God say to you?” she responded: “He’s silent too.” — She and God just resting in each other.

I should make clear that such turning to this kind of contemplative prayer or mindful moments throughout our day is not a running away from the problems and the painful feelings or disturbing thoughts that take hold of us. We’re not using prayer as what some call “a spiritual bypass.”

Rather, we are invited to what in my Buddhist practice is called a “Compassionate Presence to Difficult Feelings.”
In these moments of prayer and mindfulness, we are encouraged, first, to really face and feel the sorrow, the confusion, the depression we may be confronting.
And then, we’re invited, as my Buddhist teacher puts it, to shake hands with and welcome these painful feelings – just as we would welcome a friend who comes to us in pain or confusion or fear. We would never close our door or run away from such a suffering friend. We’d welcome him or her as lovingly as we could.

And then after welcoming the difficult or painful feelings, we hold these feelings, or better, we let them be held, in the ever present energy of Love and Compassion that we Christians call God.
Holding, or letting such feelings be held, in Compassion may not immediately free us from these feelings, but it can sustain us, and enable us not to be overwhelmed by them and so, with time, to deal with them.
Let me suggest a little practical, and wordless way of “praying always” and of connecting with the ever-present Love that holds us. It comes from the Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, and is, I think, a way of practicing Paul’s call to “be joyful always.”

Thich Nhat Hanh recommends that while we are sitting in prayer or meditation, or in the moments during the day when we pause to be mindful, we let ourselves gently and quietly smile, allowing a light smile on our lips.
See what it feels like to do this – how it might naturally connect us with what is always here.
So may I invite you all right now to close your eyes and allow a smile gently to appear . …We’ll take just a few moments of silence to see how it feels.
This can be a way for us to pause in the midst of a busy day, especially when we are dealing with difficulties, and to connect with what is always there, always sustaining and holding us. Just stop, face and be mindful of what you’re feeling, and then gently, lightly smile.

In the very last line of today’s reading, Paul assures us: “The One who called you is faithful, and will do this” – that is, will enable us to pray without ceasing, and so to always be joyful and grateful.

As we gather now around the Eucharistic table, we have the opportunity to renew our faith, our trust, that God will indeed do this.
For we gather to remember Jesus of Nazareth — someone who woke up to his oneness with God, and so who prayed without ceasing as he lived his life in awareness of the Holy Mystery that he trusted held and sustained him no matter what.

But in the Eucharist we not only remember; we become what we remember. This Jesus of Nazareth continues to live his life in us. That’s what the “real presence” means – Jesus present not just in the bread but in us.

As we gather around the table to break bread and remember, we can feel his presence among us and within us. .

With him, in him, through him, we too can pray without ceasing; we too can be joyful always and give thanks in all circumstances.

Paul Knitter

Paul Knitter’s Homily from December 17, 2023