First Reading

A reading from the Book of Prophet Zephaniah (3:14-18a)

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has removed the judgment against you. He has turned away your enemies; the King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear. On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, he will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of Isaiah (12:2-3, 4, 5-6)

(R) Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.

God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the Lord, and he has been my savior. With joy you will draw water at the fountain of salvation. (R)

Give thanks to the Lord, acclaim his name; among the nations make known his deeds, proclaim how exalted is his name. (R)

Sing praise to the Lord for his glorious achievement; let this be known throughout all the earth. Shout with exultation, O city of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel! (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians (4:4-7)

Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near: Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your request known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (3:10-18)

The crowds asked John the Baptist, "What should we do?" He said to them in reply. "Whoever has two cloaks should share with the persons who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise." Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He answered them, "Stop collecting more than what is prescribed." Soldiers also asked him, "And what is it that we should do?" He told them, "Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages."

Now the people were filled with expectation and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. John answered them all, saying, "I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people.

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

Once, after a day's work, two buckets that were being used to draw water from a well were having a conversation about their life. As they rested outside the well one bucket said to the other, "I am tired of the life we lead. Every day we go into the well to get the water. Yet however full we are when we come out of the well, we are sent back empty again, and this emptiness makes me very sad and gloomy." The other one said, "We do not have to look at our life that way. I find our life always full. Because, however empty we are when we go into the well, we always come out full, and this fullness fills me with happiness and joy.

The life of both the buckets was essentially the same, but they saw it from different perspectives. One was always negative, dissatisfied, upset, and sad, whereas the other was positive, satisfied, happy, and joyful. When life is too hard for us, we don't have to be upset or angry or sad or depressed. Life isn't easy for anyone. Everyone faces hardships of some kind. In today's first reading, Prophet Zephaniah reminds us that through our trust in God, we can be joyful even when bad things happen.

Prophet Zephaniah lived during one of the most challenging moments in Israel's history which was about six hundred years before the time of Jesus. By then, the kingdom of Israel had been split into two separate kingdoms, Judah in the South and Israel in the North. Israel was later conquered by the Assyrians and its inhabitants were taken into captivity while Judah was not. Judah was left as the sole Israelite kingdom until the Babylonian conquest and the destruction of Jerusalem, and the deportation of its king and thousands of people to Babylon around 590 years before Christ.

Among the 20 kings of Judah, 12 were evil and 8 were good to some degree. King Josiah was perhaps one of the godliest kings who ruled Judah. He tried to bring social and religious reforms, but the people who were already immersed in wicked ways refused to change. Influenced by the surrounding nations, the people had given themselves to pagan gods, so causing them to stray. Through all His prophets and seers, God called Judah and those nations to repentance, warning them of the impending consequences of their disobedience. Despite the repeated warnings from the prophets to turn from their evil ways and return to God, the people continued to indulge in all kinds of sin such as idolatry, deceit, dishonesty, pride, arrogance, violence, immorality, and indifference towards God's commands. So, like other prophets before him, the prophet Zephaniah prophesied about the coming of the "Day of the Lord," a day when God would judge them for their sin. He warned them that it would be a time of unprecedented trouble, distress, devastation, desolation, darkness and bitterness, Zephaniah (1:14-16). However, he told them that there was still hope for deliverance for those who humble themselves and seek the Lord, Zephaniah (2:1-2).

In spite of the prophet's pleadings and the demonstration of God's power and authority, the people were still stubborn and unteachable, Zephaniah (3:6-7). They were doing the same wicked things. Therefore, Zephaniah declared that their failure to serve their God of Israel in righteousness would bring about their destruction and no one would be able to escape it. This prophecy was subsequently fulfilled after 20 years when the Babylonians brought destruction upon their land and carried them off to exile for 70 years.

Yet, having affirmed that they would suffer darkness and destruction, the prophet foretold that after the exile, God would eventually bring them back to their land, remove the shame of their sins, and rejoice over them for they would live righteously and enjoy security and peace, Zephaniah (3:9-13). Envisioning such a time of restoration and blessings, the prophet called on the people to rejoice. This is what we read in today's text, Zephaniah (3:14-18a). The prophet began addressing the people as "Daughter Zion" and "Daughter Jerusalem". In the Old Testament, they figuratively referred to the Israelites as God's people or the inhabitants of Jerusalem. So, the prophet called the Israelites living in Jerusalem as well as scattered across the world, especially, the humble, lowly and faithful ones as "Daughter Zion." It also reveals God's deep affection for His people. Even as they faced the consequences of their rebellion, He addressed them with tenderness.

The prophet then summoned them to rejoice and express their joy through "shouting, singing, and by being happy and showing it in some visible way," (v.14). He further pointed out the reasons for their joy:

The Lord has stopped their punishment.
He has removed all their enemies.
He dwells among them.
They will have no disaster or misfortune to fear, (v.15).

The prophet concluded his prophecy by saying that they need not fear anymore for God would be with them and protect them as their mighty warrior and He would rejoice over them with gladness, and renew His intimate love and fellowship, and delight in them with shouts of joy, (vv.16-18).

What is the message for us?

God who was at work among the Israelites during Zephaniah's time is at work among us too. However, when it comes to our relationship with God, unfortunately we all follow the same pattern that is found throughout the Bible. God wants us to be happy, and hence, He provides us with all we need for life and godliness. But when we choose to do something our own way and rebel against God's command, He sends us into various forms of spiritual, and sometimes even physical, exile to humble us and to experience the natural consequences of our sins. He even makes us feel like He is distant or absent, even though He is not. We are not alone in our exile. God is also present with us, and therefore after a time of reckoning and chastisement, He restores us and reunites us with Himself. His compassion for us in our exile leads Him to act for our deliverance. Our God both executes justice and extends mercy. He loves us and delights in us. He liberates us from our sin and shares the joy of our freedom.
The prophet reminds us that stubbornness, obstinacy, unrepentance, and ultimately hard heartedness would lead to darkness, destruction and death. But obedience, lowliness, humility and repentance would lead to light, restoration and life.
The prophecy of Zephaniah points us to what Jesus has accomplished for us. By bearing our sins, Jesus has taken away God's judgments against us. He has removed all our sin and penalty through His sacrifice. So, as believers, we can be confident that all our sins are forgiven. Moreover, we can also rejoice that God is there always for us, even in our darkest moments, and that He saves us from our enemies and from all harm.

As we await the restoration of different areas of our life, we can rejoice now because of what will happen later. We can rejoice that just as He has promised, God will deliver us from all our fears, troubles, and afflictions and He will turn our sadness into endless joy.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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