Third Sunday in Advent

This Sunday, December 14 we will observe the Third Sunday in Advent. We light the rose or pink colored candle on the Advent Wreath as we observe what has been called Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is the Latin word for “rejoice.” Advent like Lent is a penitential time, meaning we focus on our need for the conversion of our heart and a turning around or what is called metanoia. We turn around and look to God who forgives us our sins of what we have done and what we have left undone that with God’s help we may amend our actions.

Among our readings for this Third Sunday in Advent we hear the words of the Apostle Paul. Given that Paul’s epistles are the oldest parts of the New Testament written, this letter was penned before the Gospel accounts or any other part of the New Testament. In this letter to the city of Thessalonica, a coastal city in Eastern Greece the Apostle is reminding the people of Thessalonica of the Christian calling to heed the words of the Scriptures that is the Hebrew Scriptures:

I Thessalonians 5:16-24

¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰Do not despise the words of prophets, ²¹but test everything; hold fast to what is good; ²²abstain from every form of evil.

23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

As Paul wrote this letter, the New Testament was in its infancy. Thus when the New Testament writers speak of the “Scriptures” they are referring to the Hebrew Scriptures or what we call the Old Testament. The Christian calling is to hear the words of the Prophets, to pray without ceasing. For Paul, at this point in his ministry, the return of Jesus was likely to come within the lifetime of many to whom Paul was writing in Thessalonica. Thessalonica has been named for an ancient Kings daughter (Thess) and dedicated to celebrating the power of the city’s protectors who had a powerful army. Thessalonica with its location on the sea in eastern Greece placed it near ancient Persia. Thessalonica had relied upon its army and force of arms for survival.

Paul in contrast calls upon the new Christian converts in the city to pray, heed the Prophets words, rejoice discern carefully what the believers were to do, reject evil, and give thanks in a circumstances. Being baptized into Christ, these early Christians were to get on with the task of living their lives faithfully, anticipating that the Lord Jesus might return at any time. Yet, as muc as these early Christians had received a blessing they in turn were to be a blessing to others. In a life shaped by prayer and the words of the Prophets, Christians are to seek to be concerned with the welfare of others, including the needs non-Christians and those who are yet to hear the Gospel. The Christian life is to be one of rejoicing and living out the faith and seeking the security which comes in the Christian Gospel.        

Sunday, December 14, 2014 is also a date on which the Church commemorates John of the Cross. John died on this date in 1591. He was a mystic and a member of, and reformer in the Roman Catholic Carmelite Order and is considered, along with Teresa of Ávila, to be a founder of the reformed Carmalite order. He is also known for his poetic writings. He along with Teresa of Avila, Augustine of Hippo, Ambrose, Jerome, and Thomas Aquinas John of the Cross is one of the thirty-five Doctors of the Church. (Great teachers of the Church) He was born Juan de Yepes y Álvarez from a family who had converted from Islam or Judaism. Since his father married outside of his social class, the family lived in poverty. John was influenced in his early life by the Augustinians (the order from which Martin Luther originated) and the Spanish Jesuits and the writings of Ignatius of Loyola. In 1563 he entered the Carmalite order. He would go on to become one of the great Bible scholars of his day. As an ordained priest in his order he often engaged in retreats and silent contemplation. His called for reforms in the Carmalite order met with fierce opposition from both the Spanish Crown and authorities in the Carmelite Order and led to John’s imprisonment and torture. But for those who followed John’s call for reforms, these followers went on to form the order of Discalced Carmelites. John died at the monastery at Úbeda of a horrendous bacterial infection known as erysipelas. One of John’s best known works is The Dark Night which describes the journey of the soul to final unity with God. John is also remembered for his Ascent of Mount Carmel which is thorough study of the soul which seeks union with God.

December 14, and the themes reflected in our readings call us to rejoice as people who have hope. Rejoicing is not the same as “don’t worry be happy. It is a comfort which is founded in hope and which rests in the assurance of God’s presence. The Christian who is blessed is to be a blessing to all. As we are reminded of our need for repentance, we recall that through prayer we are called upon by the Apostle Paul and John of the Cross to seek first to conform our lives to the will and unity of God. Rejoice in all things. Gaudete. Rejoice for God has called us in Holy Baptism to live out our call to discipleship.