GAUDETE SUNDAY, 3RD SUNDAY IN ADVENT - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor. IS 61:1 (LK4:18)

ZEPHANIAH 3:14-18

My Soul's Beloved,

Thank You for loving us as You do. You are God enthroned in glory and majesty in the highest heavens and You are also Emmanuel, God with us. How good it is to know that You love us so passionately. The prophet exults in Your love for Your people, those whom You have chosen and call by Your Name, and the Church exults too on this 3rd Sunday of Advent. It is truly a day to rejoice and be glad for You O Lord have come to us as one of us in all things save sin.

Thank You, Father, for sending Your beloved Son into the world. Thank You Holy Spirit for making the incarnation possible by Your spousal union with the ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and our Mother. Thank You, my soul's Beloved, for Your obedience to the will of Your Father. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for giving us hope of eternal life in God's presence. Today is truly a day for rejoicing as we draw near to Bethlehem to adore the infant King who came not to condemn the world but to redeem it.

The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst;
you have no more evil to fear.
When that day comes, word will come to Jerusalem:
Zion, have no fear,
do not let your hands fall limp.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a victorious warrior.
He will exult with joy over you,
he will renew you by his love;
he will dance with shouts of joy for you
as on a day of festival.

PSALM, ISAIAH 12

Sing and shout for joy for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Truly, God is my salvation,
I trust, I shall not fear.
For the Lord is my strength, my song,
he became my saviour.
With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.

Give thanks to the Lord, give praise to his name!

Make his mighty deeds known to the peoples!
Declare the greatness of his name.

Sing a psalm to the Lord

for he has done glorious deeds;
make them known to all the earth!
People of Zion, sing and shout for joy,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Sing and shout for joy for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7

My Soul's Beloved,

Today the Church rejoices and all her children within her rejoice too at the nearness of Your coming. We recall Your first coming, Lord, quietly, humbly, in poverty, as the Son of Man, so we would not be afraid and overwhelmed by Your greatness and majesty as the Son of God. 

Beloved, in Your first coming, You show us by example how to walk in the way of truth, in the path of righteousness, the narrow way of suffering that leads from Bethlehem to Gethsemane, to Golgotha, and finally to the glory of Your resurrection and ascension into heaven. The only way to the Father's house is through You, there is no other. 

Thank You for reminding us not to worry or be anxious about anything but to make all our needs and petitions known to You. Those who belong to You O Lord have no reason to fear anything. Thank You for always being attentive to the voice of our pleading. Thank Yor for always answering us and supplying all our needs. Thank You for giving us peace that surpasses all understanding even when our situation does not change. For we place all our hope and trust in You and Your Word. We are Yours, Lord and no one can snatch us from You. In You, reposing in Your Sacred Heart, we are safe.

The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

LUKE 3:10-18

My Soul's Beloved,

It is wisdom to know who we are in the grand scheme of things and not to have any grandiose ideas about ourselves. You came to serve not to be served and to give Your life as a ransom for many. We are no greater than the Master. Our entire lives must be spent in spending ourselves for others.

Sadly we live in an age where idolatry of self is rampant. Indulgence of the desires of the flesh no matter how bizarre, evil, and repugnant is celebrated. All opposing voices are censored or silenced often brutally. 

St. John the Baptist was refreshingly candid when people began to speculate that he was the longed-for Christ, the Messiah that Israel was waiting for. The religious authorities of the day could not be trusted to preach the truth. The scribes' and Pharisees' own personal agendas were to safeguard their power and stranglehold over the people at all costs. In such a climate the unambiguous preaching of John the Baptist was welcome and people from all walks of life flocked to hear him because they were hungry and thirsty for authentic teaching. In our day and age, few are willing to listen to the Truth let alone obey it.

When all the people asked John, ‘What must we do?’ he answered, ‘If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same.’ There were tax collectors too who came for baptism, and these said to him, ‘Master, what must we do?’ He said to them, ‘Exact no more than your rate.’ Some soldiers asked him in their turn, ‘What about us? What must we do?’ He said to them, ‘No intimidation! No extortion! Be content with your pay!’

The adulation of the crowds would have made it easy for him to lay claim to being the Christ but he knew he was not and made that most clear to those who flocked to listen to him.  The two virtues vital to growing in holiness are humility and obedience and John the Baptist possessed both. 

Every one of us is created for a purpose, Lord, grant us the grace to know what it is and the will to do it.

A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people, who were beginning to think that John might be the Christ, so John declared before them all, ‘I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fan is in his hand to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.’