Dear Friends in Christ,
The Third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday. The word Gaudete means rejoice in Latin. It is a special break in our Advent preparation to remember in case we forgot in the midst of all the hustle and bustle that we are soon to be celebrating the joy of the birth of our Savior. Did you know Advent used to be a lot longer? A long time ago it used to be 40 days like Lent. I kind of wish it was still longer because, boy oh boy, do we try to cram a lot of things into four short weeks! There are all kinds of parties, gifts to buy, Christmas cards to write, etc. I wonder if the best thing we can do during this third week of Advent to rejoice is to rest. Do you think you could take an evening off this week from all the things we do to get ready for Christmas? Just some time to spend with the Lord. Maybe gathering the family to read one of the articles or reflections in our Advent preparation booklet? Maybe listen to some good Advent music, not Christmas songs, but just some of our really good classic Advent hymns. There is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, “On Jordan’s Bank”, “Lo How A Rose E’er Blooming”, “People Look East”, or “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” to just name a few. I like to bundle up and do some stargazing during Advent. I don’t know, but I just think we are so busy around this time that the best thing we could do to rejoice would be to rest and relax and focus on what this short holy season of Advent is all about. It is preparing to celebrate the coming of the Lord, both in history and in the future. The best way to do that is relaxing, resting, and rejoicing in how much God loves you. Guadate, the Lord is near!
You Light the Way!
Fr. Matt
