JOY TO HE WORLD

Dec 16 - Joy

Dec 17 - Joy to the Family

Dec 18 - Joy to the Church

Dec 19 - Joy to the World

Dec 20 - Joy to the earth

Dec 21 - Joy to the poor

Dec 22 - Joy to the suffering

Dec 23 - Joy in our hearts

Dec 24 - Joy with Mary

CHRISTMAS - JOY TO THE LORD

Sermon Format: WWW.Joy

A. The Word
B. The World (local situation only)
C. The Work (Christian mission)

Dec 16 - Joy

 If there is one word that describes Christmas, it is JOY. Every one – child,
youth or old, rich or poor, barangay or city or town people – wants joy
 and happiness at Chrismas time. (OFW’s cry on Christmas eve because
they miss the joy of Christmas)
 Joy means different things to different people: toys, food, gifts, new
clothes, bonus, family reunion, etc.
 This joy is not lasting.
 But the true joy of the true Christmas is lasting.
 The angel said to the shepherds: I proclaim to you good news of GREAT
for that will be for ALL the people. For today in the city of David a
SAVIOR has been born FOR YOU who is Messiah and Lord. (Lk 2:10-11)
 God loves us. He cares for us and wants to save us from all evil and sin.
This and this alone is the cause of our joy (without disregarding the
lesser joys of food and money and gifts etc.)
 When we say Merry Christmas we wish some one to be happy on
Christmas or we wish that his Christmas be happy. A better meaning is:
Nay the joy of Christmas be yours. It is not we who make Christmas
happy; it is Christmas that gives us joy: the joy of forgiveness,
reconciliation and salvation.
 We the Church are sent to bring this good news of salvation to others.
We bring this good news of joy not only by announcing it but specially
by working for it.

Dec 17 - Joy to the Family

 Jesus came to us not as an extra-terrestrial being. He came us a human

being, as a true man like us in everything except sin.
 He came by being born of a woman. The joy of Christmas was enjoyed
first by Mary and Joseph and all the members of his extended family.
 When he was still in the womb, Mary proudly rejoiced and praised the
Lord for the great things that the Lord did for her. (Lk 1:46)
  Jesus blessed the little children (Mt 1913-15). For him, children were not
a nuisance. He wanted them to enjoy the touch of his love. He raised
back to life the the “little girl” of Jairus (Mk 5:41-42) and the son of a
widow in Nain, He wanted them to attain their potentials and enjoy the
blessings of life.
 As we look around us, do we see Christ’s joy in the families? Do our
children and youth rejoice with the joy of the Lord? Or do they seek joy
in material possessions or bodily pleasures or popularity among friends?
 We do not choose our family. They are God’s gift to us and we are God’s
gift to them.

Dec 18 - Joy to the Church

 When the disciples saw the Risen Lord they rejoiced (Jn 20:20). Jesus
fulfilled his earlier promise the he would turn their sorrow in joy (Jn
16:20)
 It was during this moment of joy that Jesus to them: As the Father has
sent me, so I send you. (Jn 20:21). My mission is now your mission – our
mission together. Jesus once said to them during his encounter with the
Samaritan woman who had come to draw water from the well of Jacob
at Sychar: “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to
finish his work.”(jn 4:34). He was saying: My pleasure and my joy is to
fulfill my mission.
 Jesus is telling his disciples and to the church (we the community of
disciples): be happy and be glad because I am sharing with you my
mission. Be happy and be glad when you fulfill this mission!
 The mission of Christ is to proclaim and realize God’s kingdom in this
word. He does this by being Priest-Prophet-Pastor.
 As co-priests, let us promote joyful worship.
 As co-prophets, let us promote the joy of learning, believing,
announcing and doing the Word of God.
  As co-pastors let us joyfully serve and care others and joyfully work for
the transformation and renewal of society.
 We must be a joyful Church. Jesus is not only our guide. He is our guide,
our companion, and our provider as we go on mission.

Dec 19 - Joy to the World

 Intro: God is a jealous God! Ex 20:5

 We use the word “world” in many various ways: World peace, world
class, Miss World, mayroon siyang sariling mundo.
 In the New Testament, “world” refers to the people and things of the
world in opposition to God (Lk 16:8; Eph 2:2)
 The world hates the disciples just as it hated Christ first (Jn 15:18).
 It is to this kind of world that God sent his Son. He loves the world so
much. He wants the world to rejoice in the gift of salvation and eternal
life.
 Lk 15 – the Lost Sheep God will not stop until he has won us back!
 The world as we see it now is not what God has intended it to be.
“Whether we look at the political-economic-militay capacity to brutalize
humanity and brutalize the earth or whether we look at the dysfunction
of the ecosystem, dominated by greed and fear, it is abundantly clear
that the world as we know it now is not the one called ‘good’, not the
one God intended. (Walter Brueggerman)
 But God intensely desires the return of his children who have gone way
from him. Parables of lost sheep and lost coin.
 What is our attitude towards unbelievers and sinners?
 Are we opponents of or accomplices with the sinful structures of
society?

Dec 20 - Joy to the earth

 The creation of the world has been called as “a masterpiece of grand

harmony. There was harmony in and within nature; harmony between
 man and nature; harmony between man and God. This harmony was a
victory over chaos.
 Sin damaged this harmony. It caused alienation and disorder in nature.
It alienated man from nature. And it alienated man from God.
 Christ’s redemption therefore is correctly described by St. Paul as the
reconciliation or harmonization of all things in Christ. (Eph 1:10; Col
1:20) The whole of creation will be freed from corruption throygh the
redeeming act of Christt! (Rom 8:19-22)
 Hence the birth of the Savior is “good news of great joy” not only to
people but also to Mother earth’”
 Mother Earth is a sick woman. The alienation between man and earth
continues. Man continues to brutalize, pollute and endanger the earth.
 Luckily the nations of the earth have been awakened to the realization
that human life depends on the health of Mother Earth. Killing the earth
means mass murder and destruction of humankind.
 To work for the restoration of the integrity of creation is much more
than a socio-economic-political agendum. It is an integral part of our
union with Christ. It is a necessary and substantial part of our Christian
mission.
 In 1953, for the first time in history man was able to reach the top of Mt.
Everest in the Himalayas. The expedition was let by Edmund Hilary a
British and by Tenzing Norgay of the Sherpa tribe. While Hilary planted
the British flad as a sign of conquest, Tenzing and his fellow sherpas
offered prayers and chanted songs to ask forgiveness from the spirits of
the mountain.
 Man cannot survive without Mother Earth. But this planet can surive
without man.
 We did not inherit the earth from our paraents; we boroowed it from
our children and grandchildren.

Dec 21 - Joy to the poor

  Luke 7:22 – When asked by the delegation sent by John the Baptist
whether he was the Messiah, one the credentials presented by Jesus to
support his claim was that he was proclaiming the good news to the
poor.
 Since poverty is the result of man’s brutality to man (injustice,
exploitation, greed, violence, denial of human dignity), poverty can be
eliminated by the power of love (sharing, care, compassion).
 To bring good news to the poor and action for jutice toward social
transformation is an essential element of evangelization.
 The world will be transformed when love of power gives way to the
power of love.
 When asked by the delegation sent by Jojn, whether he was the Savior,
Jesus said:”Yes for I bring good news to the poor.” When we are asked
“Are you disciples of Jesus the Messiah” can we honestly say: Yes
because I bring joy to thr poor”?

Dec 22 - Joy to the suffering

 During the time of Jesus, the suffering persons were who had various
ailments: the sick, the blind, the deaf-mutes, the lame, etc.
 Jesus gave them joy by healing them.
 It is important to know the difference between sickness and illness and,
therefore, the difference between curing and healing – as understood by
the culture of the Jews.
 Sickness was biological disorder. Cure was physical.
 Illness was social and religious. It was alienation from the family, from
the community and, mot importantly, from temple worship. Those with
ailments were non-productive members of the community. They were
shameful and dishonorable. They were excluded from temple worship
which was most precious to the Jews for it marked their rightful
relationship with the Lord.
 Healing is restoring right relationship between the ill person and the
socio-religious community.
  What was painful in sickness was the accompanying illness – the
exclusion from community.

 The joy of healing was the joy of restored relationship, the joy of
restored honor.
 Today, so many people need healing: the marginalized, the outcast, the
lowly, the defenseless, etc.
 We too can heal by:
 Touching
 Presence
 Singing
 Praying
 Forgiveness – the greatest healer!

Dec 23 - Joy in our hearts

 Before the birth of the Savior, the prophets kept on telling the Israelites
to rejoice because the promised Messiah was sure to come.
 When the Savior was born, the angels told the shepherds not to be
afraid but to rejoice.
 Now St. Paul l is telling us: Rejoice! Again I say, rejoice! (Phil 4:4)
 The false and fleeting joys of the men and women of today.
 For us Christians the cause of joy is both God’s self and God’s gifts.
 Therefore we can even rejoice when we suffer because of Christ (Acts
5:40-41)
 There are Christians who are Good Friday without Easter.

Dec 24 - Joy with Mary

 Mary is our model of Christian joy

 Joy in bringing Jesus to Elizabeth and John

This was an encounter not only between Mary and Elizabeth, but an
encounter between Jesus and John, between the Savior and the one to
be saved.
  Joy in praising God when she was praised

When she was honored and praised by Elizabeth, Mary declared that
she was an unworthy and lowly handmaid. Instead of self-
congratulation, she praised and extolled God who has done wonderful
things for her.

 Joy in caring during the wedding feast at Cana.

She was sensitive to the embarrassing situation of the family of the

groom. She was alert in coming to their aid. She restored the joy of the
occasion. At the background she must have smiled sweetly.

CHRISTMAS - JOY TO THE LORD

What gives joy to the Lord?

 His food is to do the Father’s will. (Jn 4:34) That was his joy and
pleasure.
 It gives him joy to see us do the Father’s will.
 Like a shepherd who rejoices when he finds the lost sheep, Jesus
rejoices when one sinner goes back to the Father. The angels in heaven
will rejoice. (Jn 15)
MISA DE GALLO 2014
GENERAL INTERCESSIONS
DEC 16 – 24

Our Lord Jesus Christ was born as a human person and came to live among us to
bring us salvation, reconciliation and peace. Let us pray to him that the joy of his
birth may be experienced by all peoples. To him we say: Lord Jesus, give us your
joy.

 That the joy of the Lord be experienced by his Church as it proclaims the
gospel of reconciliation and peace. Let us pray to the Lord.

 The joy of the Lord strengthen the will of all government and social leaders
as they work to build human and just societies. Let us pray to the Lord.

 That the joy of the Lord fill all himes and families so that parents and
children may live in mutual love, care and compassion. Let us pray to the
Lord.

 That the joy of the Lord be experienced by the poor, the abandoned and
the oppressed as they experience the respect and friendship of their
fellowmen. Let us pray to the Lord.

 That we may share the joy of Mary – the joy she experienced in her total
loyalty to her Son. Let us pray to the Lord.
  That our beloved dead may now experience the everlasting joy of seeing
God face to face. Let us pray to the Lord.

Lord Jesus Christ, the whole world rejoices as it celebrates your birth. May this joy
inspire us more and more to work for the full coming of your kingdom where you
live for ever and ever. Amen.