The Catholic Calendar for Sunday, December 14, 2003
The Third Sunday of Advent
Gaudete Sunday

Scripture from Today's Liturgy of the Word:
Zephaniah 3:14-18
Isaiah 12:2-6
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:10-18

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

The Lord Himself is near! (Philippians 4:4)

The Readings for today are filled with the joyful message of God's nearness. It is one of the central messages of the season and yet it isn't, just for the season, but for every day, time and age. The story of salvation history is not something that just happened, but is something that continues to happen. Often we forget that God is always near and we fail to let His grace and presence be operative in our lives.

Is it any wonder then, that sometimes the beautiful hope-filled messages of Advent don't seem to resonate in our lives? It's as if we're listening to a story that happened long ago and has little meaning today.

St. Paul tells us how the beautiful Advent theme of God's peace can become a permanent theme -- a source of joy and hope -- in our lives. He says that we must communicate with God (pray) and tell him of our needs (pray) and praise Him for His goodness (pray). Then he says, God's peace will rule over our hearts and minds, a peace which is beyond our comprehension.

Let us then acknowledge the Lord who is so near to us; let's remember Him constantly in simple little prayers of faith throughout our busy and often distressing daily activities. Then, when we call upon Him, we can joyfully expect that God's own peace will stand guard over our hearts and minds.

The Dawn from on high has broken upon us!

- Donna Nelson, ocds (drn3rd at hotmail dot com)

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posted by joachim at 4:34 AM