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Rose vestments are worn by the priest today on the Third Sunday of Advent and on the Fourth Sunday (Laetare) of Lent -- only two times during the liturgical year.

Both Gaudete and Laetare are Latin words that mean Rejoice or Joy.

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Gaudete Sunday

The third Sunday in Advent, so named from the opening word of the Introit in the Mass, "Gaudete" (Rejoice). When obtainable, rose-colored vestments are used, to symbolize the fact that the penitential observances of the season are suspended for the day in order to rejoice in the Redemption which is so near at hand.

The Season of Advent -- 2005 -- Praying Each Day

Advent 2005 – He Comes! The King of Glory

Catholic Caucus: Advent Activity - The Jesse Tree

Sunday, December 11, 2005
Third Sunday of Advent

First Reading:
Psalm:
Second Reading:
Gospel:

Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11
Luke 1:46-50, 53-54
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28

Assuredly nothing can so humble us before the compassion of God as the abundance of His mercies; nothing so humble us before His justice as the abundance of our misdeeds. Let us reflect on all He has done for us, and all we have done against Him; and as we count over our sins in detail, even so let us count over His mercies.

-- St Francis de Sales

The Call of St. John the Baptist

by Fr. Paul de Ladurantaye

Other Articles by Fr. Paul de Ladurantaye

The Call of St. John the Baptist

12/10/05

Last week’s Gospel recorded St. Mark’s account of John the Baptist’s activity at the Jordan River as he prepared the people for the arrival and public mission of Jesus. In the Gospel reading for this week, St. John describes the same event for us. He begins by telling us that "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John."


The name "John" (Yohannen in Hebrew) means "Yahweh is gracious" — a very appropriate name for the one who was to herald the greatest act of graciousness and kindness God ever demonstrated in the history of humanity. In John the Baptist, we see a wonderful example of God’s providence at work among us. John’s conception, birth, life in the desert and role as herald of the Messiah are all effects of God’s intervention on our behalf. John the Baptist was sent by God "to bear witness to the light," to tell the Chosen People (and through them the world) that God’s eternal plan was being implemented; that the incarnation of His divine Son had taken place. Weak and sinful men and women were to become children of God by adoption. Pardon for sins would be earned by the bodily sufferings of the incarnate Son of God. His resurrection would conquer death, and we would rise again and enter into the everlasting life of the Holy Trinity. Through all the long centuries, God had been preparing His people for this Good News. Especially through the prophets, He had given some fairly clear indications of His eternal plan of salvation. John the Baptist was the last of the line of prophets, and he was the greatest of them all. It was his mission to point out to his audience the Son of God in our midst, the "Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world." John, however, was sent not only for those of his day and age, but for people of all time. Over the past 2,000 years, the Good News of the Incarnation, of our redemption and exaltation, has spread over much of the world. But just as in the groups who came from Jerusalem that day in the year 30AD, there have been, in every generation, those who will not hear John’s message of conversion and preparation. There are some who are so self-centered and proud that they think they have no need for God or His providence in their lives. During this Advent season, we are invited to listen to the call of John the Baptist, and from our hearts repent of our sins. Let us prepare for Christmas, the anniversary of our Lord’s birth, by cleansing ourselves of all sinful attachments, by making a firm resolution to follow the Lamb throughout our lives. By doing so, we too shall "bear witness to the light." The way we live our faith will light the way for others, so that they, too, may be able to hear the call of God. In that way, each one of us can be another John the Baptist, by giving testimony to God’s loving and fatherly interest in, and care for, all people. If we prepare well in these days of Advent, then like John we will be able to point the way, not to ourselves, but to Christ, the Messiah and the true Light, who came to enlighten us all with His saving truth and grace. Fr. De Ladurantaye is director of the Office of Sacred Liturgy, secretary for diocesan religious education, a professor of theology at Notre Dame Graduate School and in residence at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, Virginia. (This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)

A hymn suited for the Gospel:

"On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry"
by Charles Coffin, 1676-1749
Translated by John Chandler, 1806-1876 (Stanzas 1-3)
Translated by unknown author, (Stanzas 4-5)

1. On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh;
Come, then, and hearken, for he brings
Glad tidings from the King of kings.

2. Then cleansed by every Christian breast
And furnished for so great a Guest.
Yea, let us each our hearts prepare
For Christ to come and enter there.

3. For Thou art our Salvation, Lord,
Our Refuge, and our great Reward.
Without Thy grace our souls must fade
And wither like a flower decayed.

4. Lay on the sick Thy healing hand
And make the fallen strong to stand;
Show us the glory of Thy face
Till beauty springs in every place.

5. All praise, eternal Son, to Thee
Who advent sets Thy people free,
Whom, with the Father, we adore
And Holy Ghost forevermore.

The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn #63
Text: Is. 40:3, Matt. 3:3
Author: Charles Coffin, 1676-1749
Translated by: John Chandler, 1837 (Stanzas 1-3)
Titled: "Jordanis oras praevia"
Tune: "Puer nobis nascitur"
1st Published in: _Musae Sioniae_, VI, 1609

gaudete is Latin for "rejoice." It is the first word of the entrance antiphon for the third Sunday of advent:

"Rejoice in the lord always; again I say, Rejoice! the lord is near" Phil 4:4-5

Excellent choice for today!

From: Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11

The Herald of Good Tidings

[1] The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has
anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to
bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and
the opening of the prison to those who are bound; [2a] to proclaim the
year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God.

[10] I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul 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.
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 forth before all the nations.

Commentary:

61:1-11. Into the air of great joy reflected in the previous hymn, the
prophet inserts this very important oracle about the new messenger
(vv. 1-3). The rest of the chapter is made up of three stanzas that
celebrate the wonders of the holy city. These can be seen in profound,
spiritual renewal (vv. 4-7), perfect fulfillment of the promises made
to the ancient patriarchs (vv. 8-9), and joy-in-worship, comparable to
that of bridegroom and bride, or that of the farmer on seeing a rich
harvest (vv. 10-11).

The remarkable events and features of the city point to the time of
the End, the tune of the Lord's definitive salvific intervention. In
this context these new things are ultimate and definitive. Because in
the New Testament the Church is called “God’s building” (1 Cor 3:9),
erected on the foundation of the apostles (1 Cor 3:11), Christian
tradition has seen the new, glorious Jerusalem as a symbol of the Church
that makes its way through this world and will be made manifest at the
end of time (cf. "Catechism of the Catholic Church", 756-757).

61:1-3. This very compact oracle depicts the eschatological messenger
speaking a 5oliloquy. It is one of the key passages in the book of
Isaiah. It clearly has connections with the songs of the Servant,
especially the second song (49:1-6). The pouring out of the Spirit
involves anointing as in the case of the king (cf. 11:2) and in that
of the Servant of the Lord (42:1). But the messenger is more than a
king, more than a prophet, more than the community dwelling in the
holy city in the latter days. His mission is a dual one-- to be a
messenger and a comforter. As a messenger, like a king’s ambassador in
times of war, he brings good tidings: he announces redemption for
slaves, release for prisoners (cf. Jer 34:8, 17). His message
proclaims a new order things where there will be no need for
repression and where concord and well-being will prevail. The “year of
the Lord’s favor" (v. 2) is similar to the jubilee year (cf. Lev
25:8-19) or the sabbatical year (cf. Ex 21:2-11; Jer 34:14; Ezek
46:17) in the sense that it is a day chosen by the Lord, and different
from any other; but here it means the point at which God shows himself
to be most gracious and bestows definitive salvation (cf. 49:8). It is
also called the day of vengeance (V. 2) because on that day,
essentially a day of good news, the wicked, too, receive their just deserts.

As a comforter he will bind up hearts broken by illness or misfortune,
and give encouragement to those who weep and revive those who mourn in
Zion. When the comforter is the Lord or a messenger of his (cf. 40:1),
one can expect him to re-establish his peoples to set things right,
(the way they were at the beginning), to renew the broken Covenant and
re-establish institutions that had been dismantled,
that is, bring about a situation where everything is in plentiful supply.

People who have reached rock bottom (the poor, prisoners etc.) will be
given a place of honor on that day, and a wreath, perfume and a mantle
of praise (V. 3). In sacred texts of the post-exilic period, the
concept of the “poor” (or “afflicted”: cf. note m) already went beyond
the social category of those least well off: it had a religious
connotation, meaning “the humble”, those who saw themselves as having
no value before God and who simply put their faith in his divine
mercy. The final definition of the “poor” will emerge in the
Beatitudes (Mt 5:3-12).

In Jesus’ time, Jewish tradition, found in the targum or Aramaic
translation of the Bible, considered the messenger described here to
be a prophet (and for that reason it introduced this oracle with the
words "Thus says the prophet”). So, when Jesus reads this passage in the
synagogue of Nazareth he points out that “today the scripture has been
fulfilled” (Lk 4:21) and that he is the prophet of whom Isaiah spoke.
By doing so, he is saying that he is the Messiah, the Christ, the one
anointed by the Holy Spirit (cf. Is 11:2), not so much as a king but
as a prophet who proclaims salvation. Ever since then, Christian
teaching sees Jesus as the last messenger sent by the Holy Spirit:
“The prophet presents the Messiah as the one who comes in the Holy
Spirit, the one who possesses the fullness of this Spirit in himself
and at the same time for others, for Israel, for all the nations, for
all humanity. The fullness of the Spirit of God is accompanied by many
different gifts, the treasures of salvation, destined in a particular
way for the poor and suffering, for all those who open their hearts to
these gifts--sometimes through the painful experience of their own
existence--but first of all through that interior availability which
comes from faith. The aged Simeon, the ‘righteous and devout man’ upon
whom ‘rested the Holy Spirit’, sensed this at the moment of Jesus’
presentation in the Temple, when he perceived in him the ‘salvation
prepared in the presence of all peoples’ at the price of the great
suffering--the Cross--which he would have to embrace together with his
Mother. The Virgin Mary, who ‘had conceived by the Holy Spirit’,
sensed this even more clearly, when she pondered in her heart the
‘mysteries’ of the Messiah, with whom she was associated” ("Dominum Et
Vivificantem", 16).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Various Counsels (Continuation)

[16] Rejoice always, [17] pray constantly, [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 prophesying, [21]
but test everything; hold fast what is good, [22] abstain from every
form of evil.

Closing Prayer and Farewell

[23] May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your
spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. [24] He who calls you is faithful, and he will
do it.

Commentary:

16. Being at peace with God and with others fills one with joy and
serenity, so much so that even great suffering and sorrow, if borne
with faith, cannot take away one's joy. "Being children of God, how
can we be sad? Sadness is the end product of selfishness. If we truly
want to live for God, we will never lack cheerfulness, even when we
discover our errors and wretchedness. Cheerfulness finds its way into
our life of prayer, so much so that we cannot help singing for joy.
For we are in love, and singing is a thing that lovers do" ([St] J.
Escriva, "Friends of God", 92).

When someone allows sadness to overwhelm him, even his prayers to God
are of no avail because he is failing to accept God's will. An
anonymous second-century Christian writer, in a famous document, says:
"Why does the prayer of the melancholy man not reach up to the altar of
God? [...] Because supplication when mixed with melancholy is prevented
from ascending pure to the altar. Just as wine mixed with vinegar has
no longer the same flavor, so the Holy Spirit mixed with melancholy has
not the same power of supplication. Cleanse yourself, therefore, of
this evil melancholy, and you will live for God. So, too, will they
live for God who cast away melancholy and clothe themselves entirely
in joy" ("The Shepherd of Hermas", 10th Commandment, 3).

17. Our Lord impressed on his Apostles the need for prayer at all
times, and underlined this by his own life of prayer (cf. Lk 18:1).
"The Apostle", St Jerome says, "tells us to pray always. For holy
people, even sleep is a prayer. However, we should have certain times
of prayer spread out over the day so that, even if we are involved in
some task, the timetable we have given ourselves will remind us that
duty calls" ("Letter", 22, 37).

"A Christian life should be one of constant prayer, trying to live in
the presence of God from morning to night and from night to morning. A
Christian can never be a lonely person, since he lives in continual
contact with God, who is both near us and in heaven [...]. in the
middle of his daily work, when he has to overcome his selfishness, when
he enjoys the cheerful friendship of other people, a Christian should
rediscover God" ([St]J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 116).

18. This verse completes the triptych which shows the Christian how to
live in line with "the will of God"--joy (v. 16), prayer (v. 17) and
thanksgiving.

"There is no one", St Bernard says, "who, if he just thinks about it a
little, cannot find very good reasons to express his gratitude to God"
("Sermon on the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost", 2, 1). In addition to
life itself and all the natural gifts we have received, there are the
fruits of the Redemption wrought by Christ, and even "the natural
order of things requires that he who has received a favor should, by
repaying it, turn to his benefactor in gratitude" ("Summa Theologiae",
II-II, q. 106, a. 3). It follows that gratefulness should be a
permanent attitude of the children of God, whether they find themselves
in pleasant or disagreeable circumstances, for they know that "in
everything God works for good with those who love him" (Rom 8:28). "If
things go well, let us rejoice, blessing God who makes them prosper. And
if they go badly? Let us rejoice, blessing God who allows us to share in
the sweetness of his Cross" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 658).

19-22. No one should smother the graces and charisms the Holy Spirit
grants as he wishes (cf. 1 Cor 13 and 14); and the gift of prophecy (v.
20) should be held in special regard. The "prophets" referred to in the
New Testament were Christians to whom God gave special graces to
encourage, console, correct or instruct others. They did not
constitute a special class or group, as was the case in the Old
Testament. Some of them may at times have abused their gifts and tried
to impose their counsel on others, but that does not mean that those
who had this gift were not to be held in high regard, for thanks to
this charism they were a great asset to the Church.

"It is only through the sacraments and the ministrations of the Church
that the Holy Spirit makes holy the people of God, leads them and
enriches them with his virtues. Allotting his gifts according as he
wills it (cf. 1 Cor 12:11), he also distributes special graces among
the faithful of every rank. By these gifts he makes them fit and ready
to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up
of the Church, as it is written, 'to each is given the manifestation of
the Spirit for the common good' (1 Cor 12:7). Whether these charisms be
very remarkable or more simple and widely diffused they are to be
received with thanksgiving and consolation since they are fitting and
useful for the needs of the Church. Extraordinary gifts are not to be
rashly desired, nor is it from them that the fruits of apostolic labors
are to be presumptuously expected. Those who have charge over the
Church should judge the genuineness and proper use of these gifts,
though their office is not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test
all things and hold fast to what is good (cf. 1 Thess 5:12 and 19-21)"
(Vatican 11, "Lumen Gentium", 12).

21. This verse refers directly to charisms and the discernment of
charisms; but it can be taken as advice to reflect prudently before
taking any decision, so as always to do the right thing.

23. "Spirit and soul and body": three aspects which go to make up a
well-integrated human person. Spirit and soul are in fact two forms of
the same principle. Here soul refers to the principle of sensitive
life, whereas "spirit" is the source of man's higher life; his
intellectual life derives from his spirit, and this intellectual life,
once enlightened by faith, is open to the action of the Holy Spirit
(cf. Rom 1:9).

In this verse God is being invoked to "sanctify" believers, to preserve
the purity of the human person at all levels (spirit, soul and body).
Given that even after Baptism man has an inclination towards sin and
often does offend the Lord (even if not gravely), he needs to practice
penance in order to stay unsullied. Moreover, the "sanctification"
which God brings about in man affects his entire being. In the last
analysis, Christian holiness is the fullness of the order established
by God at the Creation and reestablished after man's sin. And so the
Apostle invokes God as "the God of peace", for peace is, according to
theological definition, "tranquillity in order". Sanctity gives all
man's faculties, physical as well as spiritual, their perfection and
wholeness, thereby rounding off and perfecting the natural order,
without superseding it.

Sanctification is the joint work of God and man. God's action begins at
Baptism and develops thereafter (cf. 3:13); but for a person to attain
lasting sanctity he needs to make a constant effort to second God's
action. "Conversion is the task of a moment; sanctification is the work
of a lifetime. The divine seed of charity, which God has sown in our
souls, desires to grow, to express itself in deeds, to yield results
which continually coincide with what God wants. Therefore, we must be
ready to begin again, to find again--in new situations--the light and
the stimulus of our first conversion" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing
By", 58).

24. "He who calls you": the Greek text conveys the idea of continuous
action. The calling which God addresses to a person is not an isolated
event occurring at a single point in his life; it is a permanent
attitude of God, who is continually calling us to be holy. Therefore,
vocation is not something which can be lost; but man's response can
cease. Faithfulness is an attitude of God: he always keeps his promises
and never ceases in his salvific purpose: "He who began a good work in
you will bring it to completion" (Phil 1:6); so holiness depends on
divine grace (which is always available) and on man's response. Final
perseverance is a grace but it will not be denied to anyone who strives
to do good. "Buoyed up by this hope," St Clement of Rome comments, "let
us bind our souls to him who is true to his word and righteous in his
judgments. He who has forbidden us to use any deception can much less
be a deceiver himself" ("Letter to the Corinthians", 1, 27).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: John 1:6-8, 19-28

Prologue (Continuation)

[6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7] He came
for testimony to bear witness to the light, that all might believe
through Him. [8] He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the
light.

The Witness of John

[19] And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and
Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" [20] He confessed,
he did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." [21] And they
asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are
you the prophet?" And he answered, "No." [22] They said to him then,
"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
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,
"Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah,
nor the prophet?" [26] John answered, "I baptize with water; but among
you stands One whom you do not know, [27] even He who comes after me,
the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." [28] This took
place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Commentary:

6-8. After considering the divinity of the Lord, the text moves on to
deal with His incarnation, and begins by speaking of John the Baptist,
who makes his appearance at a precise point in history to bear direct
witness before man to Jesus Christ (Jn 1:15, 19-36; 3:22ff). As St
Augustine comments: "For as much as He [the Word Incarnate] was man and
His Godhead was concealed there was sent before Him a great man,
through whose testimony He might be found to be more than man" ("In
Joann. Evang.", 2, 5).

All of the Old Testament was a preparation for the coming of Christ.
Thus, the patriarchs and prophets announced, in different ways, the
salvation the Messiah would bring. But John the Baptist, the greatest
of those born of woman (cf. Mt 11: 11), was actually able to point out
the Messiah himself; his testimony marked the culmination of all the
previous prophecies.

So important is John the Baptist's mission to bear witness to Jesus
Christ that the Synoptic Gospels start their account of the public
ministry with John's testimony. The discourses of St Peter and St Paul
recorded in the Acts of the Apostles also refer to this testimony (Acts
1:22; 10:37; 12:24). The Fourth Gospel mentions it as many as seven
times (1:6, 15, 19, 29, 35; 3:27; 5:33). We know, of course, that St
John the Apostle was a disciple of the Baptist before becoming a
disciple of Jesus, and that it was precisely the Baptist who showed him
the way to Christ (cf. 1 :37ff).

The New Testament, then, shows us the importance of the Baptist's
mission, as also his own awareness that he is merely the immediate
Precursor of the Messiah, whose sandals he is unworthy to untie (cf. Mk
1:7): the Baptist stresses his role as witness to Christ and his
mission as preparer of the way for the Messiah (cf. Lk 1:15-17; Mt 3:
3-12). John the Baptist's testimony is undiminished by time: he invites
people in every generation to have faith in Jesus, the true Light.

19-34. This passage forms a unity, beginning and ending with reference
to the Baptist's "testimony": it thereby emphasizes the mission given
him by God to bear witness, by his life and preaching, to Jesus as the
Messiah and Son of God. The Precursor exhorts people to do penance and
he practices the austerity he preaches; he points Jesus out as the Lamb
of God who takes away the sin of the world; and he proclaims him boldly
in the face of the Jewish authorities. He is an example to us of the
fortitude with which we should confess Christ: "All Christians by the
example of their lives and the witness of the word, wherever they live,
have an obligation to manifest the new man which the put on in Baptism"
(Vatican II, "Ad Gentes", 11).

19-24. In this setting of intense expectation of the imminent coming of
the Messiah, the Baptist is a personality with enormous prestige, as is
shown by the fact that the Jewish authorities send qualified people
(priests and Levites from Jerusalem) to ask him if he is the Messiah.

John's great humility should be noted: he is quick to tell his
questioners: "I am not the Christ". He sees himself as someone
insignificant compared with our Lord: "I am not worthy to untie the
thong of His sandal" (verse 27). He places all his prestige at the
service of his mission as precursor of the Messiah and, leaving himself
completely to one side, he asserts that "He must increase, but I must
decrease" (John 3:30).

25-26. "Baptize": this originally meant to submerge in water, to
bathe. For the Jews the rite of immersion meant legal purification of
those who had contracted some impurity under the Law. Baptism was also
used as a rite for the incorporation of Gentile proselytes into the
Jewish people. In the Dead Sea Scrolls there is mention of a baptism
as a rite of initiation and purification into the Jewish Qumran
community, which existed in our Lord's time.

John's baptism laid marked stress on interior conversion. His words of
exhortation and the person's humble recognition of his sins prepared
people to receive Christ's grace: it was a very efficacious rite of
penance, preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah, and it
fulfilled the prophecies that spoke precisely of a cleansing by water
prior to the coming of the Kingdom of God in the messianic times (cf.
Zechariah 13:1; Ezekiel 36:25; 37-23; Jeremiah 4:14). John's baptism,
however, had no power to cleanse the soul of sins, as Christian Baptism
does (cf. Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:4).

"One whom you do not know": Jesus had not yet publicly revealed Himself
as Messiah and Son of God; although some people did know as a man, St.
John the Baptist could assert that really they did not know Him.

27. The Baptist declares Christ's importance by comparing himself to a
slave undoing the laces of his master's sandals. If we want to
approach Christ, whom St. John heralds, we need to imitate the
Baptist. As St. Augustine says: "He who imitates the humility of the
Precursor will understand these words. [...] John's greatest merit, my
brethren, is this act of humility" ("In Ioann. Evang.", 4, 7).

28. This is a reference to the town of Bethany which was situated on
the eastern bank of the Jordan, across from Jericho--different from the
Bethany where Lazarus and his family lived, near Jerusalem (cf. John
11:18).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	He Wants You to Learn to Fly
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph. D.
Date:	Sunday, December 11, 2005

Is 61:1-2a, 10-11 / 1 Thes 5:16-24 / Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

There was an expert on Monarch butterflies who'd been observing them for years. Time and again he'd seen them struggle for hours and days to break free from their hard chrysalis so they could stretch their wings and fly. It seemed like such a useless and painful waste of energy, so the expert decided to give one of the new butterflies a little help. With greatest care he cut the chrysalis open so the butterfly could just hop out and fly away. But that didn't happen. Instead, the little creature just lay there on the ground awhile, fluttered its wings weakly, and then died.

That butterfly never got to fly because its wings had no strength — strength which could only be won in the painful struggle to break free from the cocoon.

None of us is a stranger to struggle and pain or to the darkness that often accompanies them. Our hearts get broken, our bodies betray us, our minds are often tortured. From our first breath to our last, the struggle never ends. All that changes are its shapes.

So what are we to do with this uninvited guest who keeps showing up in our lives? Our first temptation is to run away - a good, quick sprint to the next county, or maybe just a closing of the eyes that denies there's any problem here. It's quick and easy, but it doesn't work.

Neither does that other form of running from hard reality: Bitterness and self-pity, which leave us in misery at life's starting gate, stealing the growth and joy that always lie hidden beneath our pain.

As any butterfly could tell us, the only real option we have in the face of life's over-sized challenges, pains and sufferings is to look them in the eye, take their measure, and walk through them — not around them — through them, one step at a time.

For it is precisely in the process of struggling and not running away that we almost accidentally discover what is best in us and then we grow it. We find we're made to fly. And as our struggles continue, our wings stretch and strengthen without our even noticing it.

Something else happens as we hold to course and refuse to turn away: Just as what is most true in us rises to the surface and grows, what is false and of no use slowly falls away and is part of us no longer.

To each of us God has given different assignments, and for each of us the struggles will be different too. But for all of us, they will be utterly beyond our doing, beyond our enduring unless we hold tightly to God. With him nothing is beyond us, nothing is too terrible to be faced.

So take his hand. Step out of the darkness and into his light. You are going to learn how to fly!

Catholic Culture

Collect:
Lord God, may we, your people, who look forward to the birthday of Christ experience the joy of salvation and celebrate that feast with love and thanksgiving. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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December 11, 2005

Third Sunday of Advent

Old Calendar: Third Sunday of Advent

"Rejoice: the Lord is nigh." As Christmas draws near, the Church emphasizes the joy which should be in our hearts over all that the birth of our Savior means for us. The great joy of Christians is to see the day drawing nigh when the Lord will come again in His glory to lead them into His kingdom. The oft-repeated Veni ("Come") of Advent is an echo not only of the prophets but also of the conclusion of the Apocalypse of St. John: "Come, Lord Jesus," the last words of the New Testament.

Today is known as Gaudete Sunday. The term Gaudete refers to the first word of the Entrance Antiphon, "Rejoice". Rose vestments are worn to emphasize our joy that Christmas is near, and we also light the rose candle on our Advent wreath.

Jesse Tree ~ Jonah

Sunday Readings
The first reading is taken from the book of Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11. They were uttered to the exiles in Babylon as consolation and promise which were fully and truly realized only when Christ the Messiah came. Christ applied the first two verses of this text to himself when he first preached in the synagogue of Nazareth.

The second reading is from the letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians 5:16-24. He exhorts his converts to thank God always for the gift of faith which they have received. They must respect, while testing, the gifts of the Spirit.

The Gospel is from St. John 1:6-8, 19-28. "There was a man sent from God." In this man we see perhaps the only outstanding example among a multitude, of the workings of God's providence among men. The conception, birth, hermitical life in the desert, and the role of precursor of the Messiah, are all the effects of God's intervention in our behalf. John the Baptist was sent by God: "to bear witness to the Light" of the world, to tell the remnant of the Chosen People (and through them the world) that God's eternal plan for man was being implemented; that the incarnation of his divine Son had taken place. John's testimony was surely world-shaking news. Weak, mortal men were to be changed into sons of God by adoption. Pardon for their many sins would be earned by the bodily sufferings of the Incarnate One. His resurrection would conquer death. Men would rise again and enter into the everlasting life of the divine Trinity.

Down through two thousand years or so, God had been preparing the world of man for this staggering event. As a special people, he chose Abraham and his descendants. He revealed to them something of his eternal nature and especially his fatherly interest in the human beings he had created. Through his prophets he gave them some fairly clear indications of the culmination of his eternal plan for men, namely, the fact of the incarnation.

John was the last of the great line of prophets and he was the greatest of them all. It was his privilege to point out to his audience the Son of God in human nature, the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," and also to hear God's voice from heaven proclaiming Christ to be his "beloved Son." He was surely a man sent from God.

John was sent not only for his contemporaries, for the Jews of his day, but for men of all time. Over the past two thousand years the good news of the incarnation, of our redemption and exaltation, has reached the greater part of mankind. But like the delegates who came down from Jerusalem that day in the year 30 A.D., there have been, in all generations, those who will not hear. These are men who, like the leaders of the Jews in the Baptist's day, are so self-centered and proud that they think they have no need for God or his providence in their lives.

Let those of us who believe in God and who know what he has done to give our life on earth its true purpose and meaning, show him by a faithful service how grateful we are for his infinite mercy and kindness. Let us listen to the call of John the Baptist, and from our hearts repent of our sins. Let us prepare for Christmas, the anniversary of Christ's human appearance on earth, by cleansing ourselves of all sinful attachments, by making a firm resolution to follow the Lamb through life. By so doing we too shall "bear witness to the light." Our living faith will illumine the darkness for others and they, too, will hear the call of God. In that way, each one of us can be another John the Baptist, by giving testimony to God's fatherly interest in all men. Thus can we lead our careless or indifferent brothers back on to the path of salvation, the road to heaven.

Jn 1:6-28
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
6	There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.	fuit homo missus a Deo cui nomen erat Iohannes
7	This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him.	hic venit in testimonium ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine ut omnes crederent per illum
8	He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light.	non erat ille lux sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine
9	That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world.	erat lux vera quae inluminat omnem hominem venientem in mundum
10	He was in the world: and the world was made by him: and the world knew him not.	in mundo erat et mundus per ipsum factus est et mundus eum non cognovit
11	He came unto his own: and his own received him not.	in propria venit et sui eum non receperunt
12	But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name.	quotquot autem receperunt eum dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri his qui credunt in nomine eius
13	Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.	qui non ex sanguinibus neque ex voluntate carnis neque ex voluntate viri sed ex Deo nati sunt
14	And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.	et Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis et vidimus gloriam eius gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre plenum gratiae et veritatis
15	John beareth witness of him and crieth out, saying: This was he of whom I spoke: He that shall come after me is preferred before me: because he was before me.	Iohannes testimonium perhibet de ipso et clamat dicens hic erat quem dixi vobis qui post me venturus est ante me factus est quia prior me erat
16	And of his fulness we all have received: and grace for grace.	et de plenitudine eius nos omnes accepimus et gratiam pro gratia
17	For the law was given by Moses: grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.	quia lex per Mosen data est gratia et veritas per Iesum Christum facta est
18	No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son who is in the Bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.	Deum nemo vidit umquam unigenitus Filius qui est in sinu Patris ipse enarravit
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?	et hoc est testimonium Iohannis quando miserunt Iudaei ab Hierosolymis sacerdotes et Levitas ad eum ut interrogarent eum tu quis es
20	And he confessed, and did not deny: and he confessed: I am not the Christ.	et confessus est et non negavit et confessus est quia non sum ego Christus
21	And they asked him: What then? Art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered: No.	et interrogaverunt eum quid ergo Helias es tu et dicit non sum propheta es tu et respondit non
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?	dixerunt ergo ei quis es ut responsum demus his qui miserunt nos quid dicis de te ipso
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.	ait ego vox clamantis in deserto dirigite viam Domini sicut dixit Esaias propheta
24	And they that were sent, were of the Pharisees.	et qui missi fuerant erant ex Pharisaeis
25	And they asked him, and said to him: Why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet?	et interrogaverunt eum et dixerunt ei quid ergo baptizas si tu non es Christus neque Helias neque propheta
26	John answered them, saying: I baptize with water; but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not.	respondit eis Iohannes dicens ego baptizo in aqua medius autem vestrum stetit quem vos non scitis
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.	ipse est qui post me venturus est qui ante me factus est cuius ego non sum dignus ut solvam eius corrigiam calciamenti
28	These things were done in Bethania, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.	haec in Bethania facta sunt trans Iordanen ubi erat Iohannes baptizans