Dec. 12 - Day 4 - Gaudete Sunday!

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Let us Rejoice! The Lord is near. In every Advent season the Liturgy bids us : “Rejoice always” – as we come closer to celebrating the Birth of Jesus. We know that He has come already in history but He comes daily, if we would ask and seek and knock on the door. (cf Mt 7: 7-11) and He will come again in Glory at the end of time.

He will also come when our personal time on earth is over and will we rejoice when He comes either at our own death or will we be here when He comes in Glory at time’s end?? Only God knows but let us be ready when he comes. Yesterday I posted words of St. Louis de Montfort from “True Devotion” hoping to help us prepare. Today let us continue to listen to God’s Wisdom given to His saint for the Church in every time and place:

1. Secondly, in order to empty ourselves of self, we must die daily to ourselves. This involves our renouncing what the powers of the soul and the senses of the body incline us to do. We must see as if we did not see, hear as if we did not hear and use the things of this world as if we did not use them. This is what St. Paul calls “dying daily”. Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain and does not bear any good fruit. If we do not die to self and if our holiest devotions do not lead us to this necessary and fruitful death, we shall not bear fruit of any worth and our devotions will cease to be profitable. All our good works will be tainted by self-love and self-will so that our greatest sacrifices and our best actions will be unacceptable to God. Consequently when we come to die we shall find ourselves devoid of virtue and merit and discover that we do not possess even one spark of that pure love which God shares only with those who have died to themselves and whose life is hidden with Jesus Christ in him.

Let us rejoice in God’s Word to us each day in our Advent Journey towards our renewing or our praying for the First time our Prayer of Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary.

Come Holy Spirit, teach us the truth about ourselves that we may truly die to sin and live in Jesus through Mary. Amen

 

[Vico]

Byzantine Catholic also, emphasizes the joy of the coming Nativity in the Sunday of the Forefathers.
The parable of the invitation to the wedding feast is given in our Gospel reading today of Luke 14 : 16-24. Our Lord Jesus Christ emptied himself (kenosis) doing the will of the Father, a perfect example for our own kenosis.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear LutheranScholar. Xarto, and Cham,

Thank you all for your “hearts” on this “Rejoicing Sunday” in Advent. Mary’s heart during these days of waiting must have been longing to see His Face! How beautiful she is in her humility and her faithfulness throughout her life! No wonder Jesus said to John and to all of us:

“Behold your Mother”

In her we can “see” by Supernatural Faith given in Baptism, how wonderful God’s Work is in a human person Who gives herself or himself so totally. John obeyed Jesus and took Mary into not only his home but into his life. So may we with God’s Grace take Mary into our lives and learn from her to listen to all Jesus said and did and ponder all in our hearts.

Let us rejoice always in God our Saviour come to us through Mary!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Vico,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, the parable of the invitation to the wedding feast in the Gospel of Luke 14: 16-24 gives us reason to prepare for that Great Wedding when the Bride, the Church is truly seen as the Bride of Christ.

Those who were invited but did not make a real effort to attend, were not worthy to be guests at the wedding. We need during advent to rejoice with Mary that Jesus has made us “free” to come to the Great Wedding, and we need also to be ready to suffer as she and Jesus suffered on this earth. Let us ask God for the Grace of true self -knowledge that we may repent of our sins and strive to be Holy as He is Holy.