Sunday Sermon - 12.17.23
LATIN MASS: THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT (GAUDETE)
EPISTLE: Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice. 5 Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is nigh. 6 Be nothing solicitous; but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
This is Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent. It is symbolized by the rose colored candle of the Advent wreath. Unlike the purple color of Advent, which symbolizes penance, this represents hope. You might ask why the third Sunday for this color. This is the last full week of Advent and the Church wants the entire week for the faithful to focus on the cardinal virtue of hope during this week. Sometimes the fourth week can be very short (like this year) and the Church doesn’t want this important aspect of Advent to be missed. We should wait in hopeful anticipation of Christ’s three-fold arrival. Christ arrives at His Nativity on Christmas, He arrives at every Mass in the Eucharist, and He will arrive at His Second Coming at the Final Judgment of all mankind. As this passage from Philippians says, “The Lord is nigh” and we should modest, humble and prayerful in our patient waiting for Him to arrive.
GOSPEL: John 1:19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites to him, to ask him: Who art thou? 20 And he confessed, and did not deny: and he confessed: I am not the Christ. 21 And they asked him: What then? Art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered: No. 22 They said therefore unto him: Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? 23 He said: I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias. 24 And they that were sent, were of the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, and said to him: Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? 26 John answered them, saying: I baptize with water; but there hath stood One in the midst of you, whom you know not. 27 The same is He that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. 28 These things were done in Bethania, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Our Lord and at least 4 of the Apostles (Peter, Andrew, James & John) were among the crowd that listened regularly to John the Baptist preach in the wilderness. It was important that John the Baptist was preparing the way of Our Lord, not only by having the people get a baptism of repentance, but also prepared the Apostles. After a significant time being prepared by John the Baptist, these four were ready for when Our Lord called them to follow Him instead. They had been making regular acts of repentance and contrition to humble themselves so that when Our Lord called them, they were ready to say YES to Him.
NOVUS ORDER: THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 61:1 The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; He has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
The Lord’s timing is perfect. He is never late and never early, He arrives at exactly the correct time. So prepare yourself for His arrival, because you do not know when it will be. Keep yourself humble, keep yourself contrite. Keep yourself holy by going to Confession at least once a month. Say an Act of Contrition before you go to bed each night. If you do not pray the Rosary regularly, now is the time to begin. Especially if you can pray it with your family. Start living the life of holiness that God wants from you so that you are ready when He arrives.
NEW TESTAMENT: 1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise the words of prophets, 21 but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.
23 May the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do this.
Avoid all sin and also avoid all near occasions of sin as well. Near occasions of sin are those people, things, places, activities or events that have tempted you to sin before. If you are tempted to sin when you hang out with certain friends, then it is time to examine how your friendship needs to change or be ended. If you are tempted to sin when you go to a club or bar, it might be time to give them up. If you are tempted to sin when you surf the internet late at night, then it’s time to go to bed and avoid it during those hours. If you are tempted to sin, pay attention to that temptation and do your best to keep yourself away from that temptation. As St. Paul says, “abstain from every form of evil”. Do not place yourself in the position of temptation intentionally.
GOSPEL: John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the Light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify to the Light.
19 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said,
“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said.
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands One whom you do not know, 27 the One who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of His sandal.” 28 This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
See the commentary above, but also to add this: Note that Christ is referred to as the “Light” in this passage. Our Lord is the Light from which everything is created and is sustained. There is no darkness in Him because He is the light of everything. Separation from God is referred to as the “outer darkness” by Christ. It is separation from Christ who is our light.
Today we light the rose colored candle on the Advent wreath to show our hopeful anticipation as we wait for Our Lord to appear to us.