REJOICE!

#12thandMass
December 7, 2021

Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice!
(Philippians 4:4)

This Sunday, we once again encounter John the Baptist. He is apparently an important figure on our path! As I often say, let us recall that the saints are not distant, pious examples. They are first and foremost divine friends, actively journeying with us.
 
John the Baptist prepares the way for an-other: Jesus, the light of the world. So other-centered is he that, when asked his identity in John’s gospel (1:23), he responds, “I am the voice of one crying in the desert.” Try self-identification like that on your Facebook page! 
 
Indeed, in John the Baptist, we see the attitude of heart that we are to have if we really want to discover Jesus and how tremendous He is: a sense of our unworthiness. Indeed, at every Mass, we echo the words of the centurion (professional soldier in the Roman army at the time of Jesus), who asks Jesus to heal his servant, “Lord I am not worthy to that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only and my soul shall be healed” (Matt. 8:8). We develop this sense not so much in realizing how imperfect we are, but in realizing how perfect Jesus is, i.e. how unconditional and overflowing is His love.
 
Beyond or deeper than the decorating, shopping, baking and visiting (and the too many “already”-Christmas parties!), such a sense is the right preparation for Christmas. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to awaken this in us. Interior freedom and awe and joy will follow. This is Gaudete Sunday (always the third Sunday of Advent), “rejoice” Sunday. With the eyes of our hearts fixed on our Gracious Lord who gratuitously comes to us in our unworthiness, we are invited to rejoice.
 
Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice!
(traditional opening words—the Introit—on the Third Sunday of Advent)

The Rev. Dominique Peridans
Rector