CELEBRATE SUNDAY
WITH ST. MARY'S
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Be prepared for good news to arrive.
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
In the midst of a penitential season, we spend this Sunday focusing instead on the joyful hope of Christ’s arrival. Advent is meant to be a season in which we acknowledge our sins, detach ourselves from the worldly things in our midst, and make sure we are prepared for the coming of Christ, not just in the season of Christmas but at the end of time as well. The purpose of a penitential season is not to make us sad or to feel guilty; rather, the penitential season is meant to realign us with the purpose we were given at our creation - to be ready for God whenever we are called back to Him. This is, by its very nature, the most joyful thing. We remind ourselves on this Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, to rejoice in what is to come for us.
READ THIS SUNDAY'S MESSAGE
Advent is personified in the person of John the Baptist, and when we think of the man, we might tend to imagine a firebrand prophet who went around Israel telling the people to repent. This is all true: John’s passion for God’s justice and the imminent arrival of the Messiah was so palpable, that the crowds often wondered if he himself was the Christ. But John’s message, which was the same message of all prophets, was one of preparation; he was not the Messiah, as he told the crowds, but merely preparing the way for him. For those early crowds, the excitement of hearing about the near coming of the Messiah might have been drowned out by two moments of dejection: first, the person who the crowd wanted to be the Messiah made it known that he was not, and second, his message was one of penance, to begin to live a life of sacrifice in accordance to one’s sinfulness. We can easily be caught up in the same negativity during penitential seasons. Instead of looking forward with joy to the arrival of our Lord, we become hyper-focused on our sinfulness or our tendency for scrupulosity. As an antidote to this, society has gone to the other extreme, making the lead up to Christmas not a season of penance, but a season of materialism and commercialization. Instead of falling into either trap, we must take seriously the message and direction of John the Baptist: be charitable at this hour before our Lord’s arrival. Stop taking advantage of your neighbors, and instead act in love. Christ will come again to bring the world into his care, and we ought to be prepared for that. But most importantly, on this Gaudete Sunday, we must rejoice in what is to come: “Exhorting them in other ways, John preached good news to the people.”
We call the third Sunday of Advent “Gaudete Sunday” (Gaudete means “rejoice” in Latin) because of the words we hear from this Sunday’s Second Reading, when Paul tells the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord always. In fact, he reiterates it: “I shall say it again: rejoice!” We should not have any anxiety at the arrival of Christ; as Christians, we are always meant to have our house and affairs in order, and if our lives are in such disarray that we would scramble if Christ would come back at this hour, that says more about our state of sinfulness than it does about the joy attached to the coming of our Lord. Do not fear the labor pains, do not fear the “baptism of fire” or the separation of the wheat from the chaff. Even if we are caught up in those signs before Christ’s arrival, the pain will be purifying for us and we will want it. But we can begin the process today, acting in charity and sacrifice for our neighbors. All of these things at their heart are occasions for celebration, and this week is our reminder of the pure joy that is soon to come into our lives.
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