Today’s readings invite us to rejoice at the rebirth of Jesus in our lives as we are preparing for our annual Christmas celebration. Today is called
Gaudete Sunday because today’s Mass begins with the opening antiphon: “Gaudete in Domino semper,” i.e.,
“Rejoice in the Lord always.” So, to express our joy in the coming of Jesus as our Savior into our hearts and lives, we light the rose candle in the Advent wreath, and the priest may wear rose-colored vestments.
Scripture lessons summarized: The prophet Isaiah, in the first reading, encourages the exiled Jews in Babylon to rejoice because their God is going to liberate them from slavery and lead them safely to
their homeland. The Refrain for today’s Responsorial Psalm has us sing, “Lord, come and save us!” In the second reading, James the Apostle encourages the early Christians to rejoice and wait with patience for the imminent second coming of Jesus. Finally, in the first part of today’s Gospel reading, Jesus encourages John the Baptist in prison to rejoice by casting away his wrong expectations about the Messiah and simply accepting Jesus’ healing and preaching ministry as the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah. In the second part of today’s Gospel, Matthew presents Jesus, the true Messiah, paying the highest compliments to John the Baptist as His herald and the last of the prophets, and giving special credit to the courage of John’s prophetic convictions, asking his listeners to rejoice in the greatness of His herald.
Life messages:
- We need to learn how to survive a Faith crisis. Even after having had a direct encounter with Jesus, the Messiah, John the Baptist, had his doubts about Jesus and His teachings. If he had his doubts, we can have our crises of Faith, too. On such occasions, let us remember the truth that all our Christian dogmas are based on our trusting Faith in the Divinity of Jesus, and on His Divine authority which He gave to His Church to teach what He taught. Hence, it is up to us to learn our Faith in depth and ask the Lord to remove our
- “Go and tell others what you hear and see.” We rejoice at the thought that Jesus is going to be reborn in our lives, deepening in us His gifts of love, mercy, forgiveness and the spirit of humble and sacrificial service during this Christmas season. Hence, let us joyfully share God’s bountiful grace, forgiveness and mercy with others. What Jesus commanded John’s disciples, He commands us as well: Go and tell others what you hear and see. This means that we have to share with others our experience of the rebirth of Jesus within
- We need to open our hearts and let God transform our lives. Today’s readings remind us that our lives can also be transformed if we are patient and place our trust in God. The message of Advent is that God is present among us, in our everyday lives. We must prepare our hearts to recognize and welcome Him by allowing a metánoia (a change of thinking about God, ourselves, and the world) wrought by the Holy Spirit, to take place in us during
Fr. Sebastian