Rejoice!
Advent's third Sunday
Announcements for December 11, 2021:
Our annual Lessons & Carols service is almost here! Join us on Sunday at 3:00pm in the church for an unforgettable Advent experience.
The new OLMC stained-glass ornament has arrived. For purchase, check it out in our online store. Ornaments will also be sold after Masses this weekend and next.
To give to our Christmas flowers collection, check out our parish campaigns on the parishioner portal.
A new Tuesday afternoon Bible study will begin in January. Check out the bulletin, or be in touch with us for more information.
Visit the OLMC Parishioner Portal for all of our recent announcements.
Dear Saints,
This weekend we celebrate Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is a Latin word that means rejoice, and we find it in the entrance antiphon for Sunday's Mass:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.
More on that in a bit. But for now, I want to encourage you to join us tomorrow for Lessons and Carols. The Advent singing and scripture service begins at 3:00pm on Sunday in the church.
These past few years, our Lessons and Carols service has been the highlight of my Advent experience. If you are able to come, please make every effort to be here. You won't regret it!
The Gaudete refrain I mentioned above tells us to rejoice because the Lord is near. The longer version of the same antiphon gives us a fuller sense of what this looks like:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. Have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Lord, you have blessed your land; you have turned away the captivity of Jacob.
Here, we see that our rejoicing is a matter of trust. In prayer we entrust ourselves - our whole heart and our whole life - to God; we thank him for his goodness to us; and we ask him to meet our need knowing that he has, he does, and he will.
As we grow in trust of (and live more totally for) Jesus, our Lord and King who is born to us in Bethlehem and whose return we eagerly await, we will bear the fruit of a Spirit-led life. With the power of God's own life of love at work in us and working through us we will bring forth love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, generosity, faithfulness, and self-control in abundance.
So, trust. And rejoice!
I love you, my friends, and I look forward to seeing you very soon.
Christ's Peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
PS My reflection in this weekend's bulletin ties in quite nicely to the above theme. Let me know whether or not you see the connections.
PPS For some practical ways to live more totally for God this Advent, check out this recent article from Mike Aquilina.
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Third Sunday of Advent