Yet, in the calendar of the Catholic Church, we celebrated Gaudete Sunday, a time of rejoicing. However, a number of us didn't feel too much like rejoicing. Nevertheless, we did. And we needed to, for in that rejoicing, we remembered that the Lord is ever near us, now more than ever, and will never leave us abandoned or orphaned. At a time when we, as a nation, were trying to see where God was in the confusion of the chaos that had erupted, we recognize that He was there the whole time.
We continue to ask our Blessed Mother, under her titles of the Immaculate Conception (patroness of our nation) and Our Lady of Sorrows, to continue to intercede for the United States of America and her citizens.
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Homily for the Third Sunday
of Advent – 16 December 2012
This is the message of Mother Church
on this Third Sunday of Advent, just as it is every year. She calls us to
rejoice because the Day of the Lord is near. This “Gaudete Sunday”, as it’s traditionally known, calls us to look
forward to the celebration of the Incarnation, which is now just under ten days
away.
Yet a majority of us throughout the
United States are wondering just how we can rejoice when the events of Friday
in Newtown, Connecticut, cast such a sad and frustrating shadow on what is
truly a most joyous time of preparation. Most of us are probably like the
crowds in today’s Gospel, asking, “What should we do?” Frustrated, we ask the
Lord for the answer, and, frustrated again, we may not like the answer we’re
given: Rejoice! We rejoice because as Saint Paul reminds us in today’s Second
Reading, “The Lord is near!”
Yes, we rejoice because the Lord is near! Not because Christmas is near, but because the Lord – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is nearer to us now more than ever. This is how Saint Paul exhorts us to “have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,” we should always be “[making our] requests known to God.” “What should we do,” then? We need to be in constant communication with God. The more we talk to God, the more His peace will be in our lives – that peace “that surpasses all understanding” will lead us to the full joy of God and a life lived with and for Him.
With this peace, with this joy, does
that mean we will live a life full of pain-free happiness? Obviously not. Each
person in this church, in this parish, has been struck by fear, frustration,
pain and sadness in our lives. But when we allow this peace, this joy to
transform our lives, we are able to cry out like Isaiah in our response to the
First Reading: “God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. My
strength and my courage is the Lord, and He has become my savior.” And we,
then, confidently remember the words of Zephaniah, that “the Lord is in [our]
midst,” and that “He will rejoice over [us] with gladness, and renew [us] is
His love.” And it is in this love of our God that we find our peace.
My brothers and sisters, this moment
in our national attention to such horrific acts is the paradox of the Cross
being lived out right before our eyes. The frustration and anger we may feel
now as a nation toward such cruel and violent acts not only against other human
beings, but, in a worse sense, the innocence of children, is, in some way,
justified. We want answers. We seek justice. However, in the course of things,
we also seek that peace which only God can give. We do not rejoice at the loss
of human life. We do rejoice, however, at the knowledge that our God is near
and is in our midst as we continue to make sense of such a tragic and horrific
event in our nation.
My friends, ultimately we rejoice
because we know that in the day-to-day living out of the paradox of the Cross,
our Lord has already won the war over sin and death. We rejoice because He is
in our midst in the Word and Sacraments – most especially the Eucharist, in
which we will partake of in a few moments. We rejoice because, despite all the
insanity, anger, rage and hatred in our world, He Who is Peace itself makes His
presence known through varied ways and means to the people who need it most.
And so, my brothers and sisters, let’s
take a moment to truly understand what Saint Paul means when he tells us to
“Rejoice in the Lord always!” We do so, in all times and places, because Jesus
Christ has overcome all the evil, anger and hate in this world, and He has
brought us true peace. But let us also pray for those who are lacking that
peace and joy in their lives, and pray for the Lord’s peace to be in the hearts
and homes of all mankind – not only on this day or the upcoming Christmas
season, but for now and eternity, that we may truly rejoice in the presence of
the Lord. For Christ is truly near and truly here in our midst.
Please
now join me in a moment of prayer for those affected by the violence in
Newtown, Connecticut:
·
Our Father . . .
·
Hail, Mary . . .
·
Glory Be . . .
And
for those who died on Friday, and for all who have lost their lives due to acts
of violence, we pray:
·
Eternal rest . . .
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