Worship Resources For Everyone

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December 15th, The Third Sunday Of Advent

A link to the readings from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121519.cfm

A Reflection on the Readings

This Sunday we celebrate the third Sunday in Advent, also known as Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is Latin and means “Rejoice!” When Advent was observed as a more penitential season, this third Sunday was a break from the somber mood and was more celebratory. Advent is no longer celebrated as a more penitential season, but rather as a reflective time of expectation and hope. In Sunday’s Gospel we find John the Baptist thrown in jail for his bold proclamations (including calling out Herod’s own sin) and public baptisms. As John waits for his trail he begins to hear about the works of Jesus and reflects. Could Jesus be the one they were waiting for? But what about the expectation of the Messiah coming to be a fiery preacher of judgement wielding an ax? In order to find out, John sends some friends to check Jesus out. Sure enough he is performing the miracles foretold but Jesus has begun a ministry of healing and the celebration of God’s mercy. The Jews had been anticipating a powerful warlord who would militarily defeat their enemies and drive them off the lands of Israel, not a healer who will bring peace to all humanity. They have heard Isaiah’s prophecies but have taken their own interpretation of them to bolster their own desires, and not the will of the Lord. This is a great example of unmet expectations. This can occur today when we anticipate the salvation of Christ more on the basis of what we think it should be, rather than what Jesus tells us in the Gospels. Part of the problem is we want judgement on our terms, and we anticipate score-settling based on our own judgement rather than the Lord’s. We miss the sense of family that salvation will restore to all women and men as children of God, and instead focus on what we individually get out of it.

This is a vital message for us to hear today, because there are some in our country who tell us all we have to do is look after “our own back yard.” This message is many things, but it is not Christian. Advent reminds us that by welcoming Christ we have an obligation to care for all God’s children. We are living after the death and resurrection of Jesus and have this advantage over John. The reign of God has begun, the Spirit has been given, and we are now participants in God’s reign. However, like John, we can miss the miracle of God’s presence. The signs may be more subtle in our time because of the busyness of our lives and overwhelming noise of technology. Advent is a time to step away from all that and go mentally into the wilderness to reconnect with the voice of God and to check our expectations. Expectations of hope create a framework for how we think the world and life should be. They are often the ideals and dreams that help us get out of bed each morning. There are also expectations of dread, the things of life that we fear and want to avoid. The thing about expectations is that they pull us out of the present moment into a future we do not yet have, except as it exists in our head. Pretty soon, we begin to act and speak as if our expectations, either of hope or dread, are the reality of our lives. We allow those expectations to shape our attitudes, our beliefs, and the way we relate to others. Those expectations even shape our image of who God is, where God can show up, and how God should act. If God does not meet our expectations, we are often too quick to question God rather than ourselves. We trust our expectations of what God should be doing more than we trust what God is actually doing. Are we really going to limit what God can and cannot do? When we try to confine God’s work to our expectations, we end up imprisoning ourselves with a view of God, the kingdom, the world, and our own lives that is too small and too narrow. That is not who God is or how God works. What are our expectations for God? Where do we limit what God can do? Where have we imprisoned ourselves with expectations of hope or dread? In what way do we continue to build our own prison walls? Where have we isolated ourselves from the love, healing, and life God offers? The door of the cell is locked from the inside. Open the door and flee the confines of your own expectations. What will you see and hear? The blind will see, the lame will walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have good news brought to them. As this calendar year draws to a close and the nights get longer, many of us may find fear and doubt creeping in. Maybe John understood something about joy that can help us in our own “darkness and unknowing.” Maybe John understood that joy is what happens when Christ breaks through our assumptions about God and invites us to walk with God.

Music as Prayer (Bis orat qui bene cantat)

A greater entrance into the prayer of the Liturgy is achieved by being familiar with the music. In particular, the Psalm functions best as a meditation on the readings when we know it well and the mechanics of singing it do not consume too much of our focus. Similarly, with the individual parts of the Mass Settings (the sung acclamations)

Not in Hymnal – Psalm:
Psalm 146: Cry Out With Joy: 3rd Sunday of Advent, year A (Lord, Come and Save Us)

Not in Hymnal – YouTube link:
Come, Child of Light – Lloyd Larson

Not in Hymnal – YouTube link:
Litany of The Word – Bernadette Farrell

Not in Hymnal:
In Stillness, with Patience – Lori True

Not in Hymnal – YouTube link:
Jesus, Hope of the World – Paul Tate

Mass Setting – YouTube link:
Mass of Angels and Saints – Steven R. Janco

Preface Dialog – YouTube link:
Traditional Chant – ICEL

Our Father – Fr. Paveglio & Corpus Christi:
Traditional Chant – ICEL

Practice Music for Advent

The Worship Calendar:

Nearby: St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church  (clustered with Corpus Christi)