Third Sunday of Advent December 14, 2014
Is 61:1-2a,10-11 Lk 1:46-48,49-50,53-54 1
Thes 5:16-24 Jn 1:6-8,19-28
The third Sunday of
Advent is called Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete
is latin for “rejoice.” Rejoice because our
Savior is coming! Even the church colors
reflect the shift – the color rose is used to accent the sanctuary of the
church.
The readings are full
of the language of rejoicing. The first
reading says, “I rejoice
heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul.” The
responsorial Psalm for the day says, “My soul
rejoices in my God.” The Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians
begins with “Rejoice always.”
Today we intentionally
take up the attitude of rejoicing – whether we initially feel like it or
not. It can’t come at a better
time. With little light during the day
and long hours of darkness, some of us might be tending toward depression. Some of us carry bad memories from the past
this time of year. A few may be dreading
family reunions with those dysfunctional relatives. In the larger world, there are events going
on around us that cause great anxiety.
The teetering global economy, continued threats of terrorism, dreadful
diseases, violence, persecutions, social unrest, and a litany of other problems
troubling the world today. This can be a
time of anxiety for many reasons.
It is in the midst of
all this that we receive this instruction from the Lord in the scriptures
today. “Rejoice always.” How do
we really do that.
First of all, the joy
of which we speak is not really an emotion.
It is a firm decision of the will.
It is grounded in the knowledge of our God who loves us and our decision
to love God in return by doing his will.
This joy truly is a life decision, and not at all a fleeting
emotion. That being the case, here are
two things we can do – decisions of the will – that help us to take up and live
the joy that marks this third Sunday of Advent.
1.
Pray! Keep praying during the Advent season. We have a
week and a half of preparation. Let us bring our sacrifice of praise to God by
recommitting ourselves to Mass on all Sundays and all Holy Days of Obligation.
Don’t skip out on it. Don’t be a spiritual lazy bum. Hold fast to the
discipline of prayer. Stay faithful with personal prayer. Stay faithful with the public prayer of the
church – especially the Mass. There are great spiritual rewards for those who
are faithful to prepare for the coming of Jesus. Stay faithful in Advent. Stay faithful all year around. Stay faithful to Jesus through prayer.
2.
Go to
confession. Receive the sacrament of Penance in preparation for Christmas. In the
gospel John the Baptist instructed his listeners about preparing the way of the
Lord. A great way to prepare the way of
the Lord is with the Sacrament of Penance.
That great sacrament of healing where the burden of sin gets lifted off
of us and we receive the grace of repentance. The Church asks us to go to confession
at least once per year. In the same way the church asks us to go to communion
at least once per year. And, of course,
confession, like communion, is encouraged with more frequency. A good number of people haven’t gone to
confession in many years. For others, it
has been many months. And for some, it
may even have been since first confession as a child. After a long time, it is easy to feel
intimidated because of it. So here’s the
message – do not be afraid. The ritual
is easy and our priests are gentle and good.
Go to confession and be healed by Jesus.
The gift of joy comes with this wonderful sacrament of God’s mercy. And, lucky us, we are having a communal
Penance service on Tuesday, December 16, at 7:00 p.m. at Holy Name of Mary. Listen up everybody - go to confession in
preparation for Christmas. Jesus is
coming!
Good people. Rejoice always. Rejoice heartily in the Lord. Rejoice with the prayers of Advent and
Christmas. Be joyful with the sacrament
of penance.
Dear people, Jesus is
coming. This is the best news of all. May
the benediction of 1 Thessalonians 5:24 be God’s gift for us all this
Christmas.
“May the God of peace make you perfectly holy
and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body,
be preserved blameless for the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ.”
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