The Third Sunday Advent

The Third Sunday of Advent

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December 17, 2017

Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11; Luke 1; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

This Sunday is called Rejoice Sunday because our waiting is coming to an end as we move closer to the birth of our Savior. We hear about rejoicing in each of the readings, even though this joy is tempered with grief and sorrow. It may be a quiet joy, but the important message is that we are to know that the last word will include our rejoicing.

This week, I found moments of rejoicing in the midst of hardship. 

·      A middle-age man is feeling down because his father died recently and this will be the first Christmas without him, but his friends, who recognize his grief, take him out for a party to give him good cheer so he will know the fullness of friends.

·      An elderly woman in a memory care unit starts weeping when she hears Christmas songs. She sings along and smiles widely with her friends, but somehow realizes this may the last time she enjoys Christmas songs.

·      A woman who spends time caring for her school-age children and an elderly father seldom gets time on her own to relax. She speaks excitedly about a carefree afternoon of sharing menu items in a new restaurant and sipping hot chocolate during a holiday stroll to see the twinkling city lights.

·      During a day of coincidences, two cousins, by happy fate, see each other after 40 years. They discover they have much in common and spend precious time catching up and planning future visits.

·      A man who gets depressed around Christmastime sits in a chapel to gain courage and to figure out how to salvage parts of the season. His moment of respite and comfort carries him through a set of dark, heavy days.

·      At a company party, a woman who is working hard to pay down debt wins a 55-inch television, an item she could not afford on her own.

·      Priests from around the city gather in a church for the sacrament of reconciliation and to enjoy fraternal fellowship.

During these dark days of the years, there are certainly moments of relief and rejoicing. These are the glimpses of relief that root us and ground us in hope. Even though it may be very difficult, the Lord will help us if we follow the words of St. Paul: Rejoice always! Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. I love these words and it is consoling to read: this is God’s will for me and you.

With many good, but busy activities swirling around us during this season, let us take that time to sit in silence and stillness some point this week just to say thanks to Christ, to ask for the moment when we can rejoice, if just a little bit, and to pray for his coming into our life in a new way this Christmas. You deserve to know that God wants you to have this joy. You are worth it. Deep down in the core of my heart, I know I need this joy and thankfulness because life gets heavy and it is difficult to find. So, I ask for it and wait in stillness. And somehow, even though if there’s the tiniest movement, the movement is towards Christ who is moving towards me.

It is time to come, Lord. Please do not delay. I want you. We all need you. And I want you to know this, Lord: Thank you.

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 

Monday: (Zechariah 2) Rejoice, O daughter Zion. I am coming to dwell among you. The Lord will possess Judah and he will again choose Jerusalem.

Tuesday: (Zephaniah 3) On that day, I will change and purify their lips that they may call upon the name of the Lord. You shall not exalt yourself on my holy mountain.

Wednesday: (Isaiah 45) I am the Lord; there is no other; I form the light and create the darkness. Turn to be and be safe all you ends of the earth for I am the Lord, your God.

Thursday: (Isaiah 54) Raise a glad cry, you barren one who did not bear, break forth in jubilant song you who were not in labor.    

Friday (Isaiah 56) Observe what is right; do what is just; for my salvation is about to come; my justice is about to be revealed.

Saturday (Genesis 49) Jacob said: You Judah, shall your brothers praise. The scepter will never depart from you, or the mace from between your legs.  

Gospel: 

Monday: (Luke 1) The angel Gabriel was sent to a virgin betrothed to Joseph to announce that the Holy Spirit would overpower her and she would conceive a son. 

Tuesday: (Matthew 21) A man had two sons – one who said no, but did what his father asked; the other who said yes, but did not do what he asked. Which son was better?

Wednesday (Luke 7) The Baptist sent his disciples at ask: Are you the one who is to come? Look around: the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, and the poor hear the good news.

Thursday (Luke 7) Jesus asked: Why did you go out to see the Baptist? He is the greatest of men born to women.   

Friday (John 5) The Baptist was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his lift, but I have greater testimony than John’s.

Saturday (Matthew 1) The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus.

Saints of the Week

December 17 - O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love: come to teach us the path of knowledge.

December 18 - O Adonai, and leader of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: come to rescue us with your mighty power.

December 19 - O root of Jesse's stem, sign of God's love for all the people, before you the kings will be silenced, to you the nations will make their prayers: come to save us without delay!

December 20 - O key of David, and scepter of the house of Israel, opening the gates of God's eternal kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness.

December 21 - O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.

December 21: Peter Canisius, S.J., priest and religious (1521-1597), was sent to Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, and Switzerland during the time of the Protestant Reformation to reinvigorate the Catholic faith. He directed many through the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius. He is a doctor of the church for his work in bringing many people back to the faith.

December 22 - O King of all nations, and their desire, and keystone of the church: come and save us, whom you formed from the dust.

December 23 - O Emmanuel, our king and giver of the Law, the hope of the nations and their Savior: come to save us, Lord our God.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Dec 17, 1588. At Paris, Fr. Henry Walpole was ordained.

·      Dec 18, 1594. At Florence, the apparition of St Ignatius to St Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi.

·      Dec 19, 1593. At Rome, Fr. Robert Bellarmine was appointed rector of the Roman College.

·      Dec 20, 1815. A ukase of Alexander I was published banishing the Society of Jesus from St Petersburg and Moscow on the pretext that they were troubling the Russian Church.

·      Dec 21, 1577. In Rome, Fr. Juan de Polanco, secretary to the Society and very dear to Ignatius, died.

·      Dec 22, 1649. At Cork, Fr. David Glawey, a missionary in the Inner and Lower Hebrides, Islay, Oronsay, Colonsay, and Arran, died.

·      Dec 23, 1549. Francis Xavier was appointed provincial of the newly erected Indian Province.

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