Saturday 13 December 2008

Gaudete Sunday

This Sunday is known traditionally as Gaudete Sunday. The name comes from the opening antiphon for the Mass in latin (both in the 1962 Rite of Mass - the Extraordinary Form or the 1970 Rite of Mass - the Ordinary Form)
Gaudete, Christus natus est ex Maria Virgine, Gaudete!
Rejoice, Christ is born of the Virgin, rejoice!

The mood of advent changes. The priest to-day will wear rose coloured vestments. These are a lighter shade than the more sombre purple of the other Sundays of Advent. A sign that the Light from on high will soon dawn upon us. We will also light the third candle on our advent wreath. Again this is rose coloured and is yet another reminder of Christ the Light who is coming to bring His own wonderful light to our world.

Most of us think that the world evolves around us. Either consciously or unconsciously we consider ourselves to be the centre of the universe. When the government raises taxes our first reaction is ‘How is that going to affect me?’ The way we claim things as our own my car, my book, my money - even my parish further enhances our universe centered concept of ourselves.

In the middle of Advent John the Baptist comes along and reminds us that we have no such central position . The author of John’s Gospel makes clear in the way he presents John the Baptist. We are told that God sent John to bear witness to Jesus, the light of the world. The Gospel of John makes it clear that John the Baptist is not the light but that Jesus is. In other words John’s career was to be other centred - to point towards the Messiah.

Our role as baptised members of the Church is similar to John’s. We recognize that we are not the light, but proclaim that God is. We testify that God is at work in our lives, so that others might believe through us.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Keep these blogs coming Farther they are good

Fr Francis Wadsworth said...

Many thanks for your appreciation of the blog. If you have any items you would like me to post on just let me know and I will see what i can do.