11 December 2022 - 3rd Sunday in Advent - Gaudete Sunday - Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10, Matthew 11:2-11

     A few days ago, on our celebration of the Immaculate Conception, we heard the announcement of the Angel of Gabriel to Mary: “Hail Mary! Rejoice Mary - you are full of grace! The Lord is with you!” The announcement to rejoice that the Angel brought to Mary is a sign to us during our Advent preparations, a sign that God is calling us to rejoice as we prepare for the coming of Jesus into the world. Today, we leave behind our usual Advent purple color of purple for rose, a color that signifies joy. We commonly know this Third Sunday of Advent as Gaudete Sunday. The word “gaudete” comes from the Latin words “gaudium” - meaning  joy  and “gaudeo” - meaning to rejoice or to be glad. The term “Gaudete” comes from the Entrance Antiphon of today’s mass: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near”. We rejoice that the Advent season is coming to an end as we approach our joyful Christmas celebration. Our readings today reflect the spirit of Gaudete Sunday, giving us encouragement, hope, and joy. Our readings start out with Isaiah telling the people of Israel to rejoice and have hope: “The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song.”

     But then we hear from this strange Advent character again, John the Baptist. In last Sunday’s Gospel, John the Baptist was wandering around the desert wilderness, eating strange food and calling the people of Ancient Israel to repent. Today, our Gospel finds John the Baptist in prison, not a place that is particularly connected to joy. John is in prison for speaking the truth to King Herod. John sends his disciples to ask Jesus an important question: Are you the one to come? Are you the Messiah? The spiritual joy that we are called to have this Advent season is not a joy that is connected to the material pleasures in our world. It is a joy that is intrinsically connected to our faith. When Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, John the Baptist rejoiced in his mother’s womb, recognizing that he was in the presence of Jesus and Mary. Later in John’s Gospel, John the Baptist asserts to his disciples that although he himself is not the Messiah, God sent him to announce the Messiah’s coming, and so he rejoices at the voice of the Messiah that he hears at Jesus’ coming into the world, for it has made John the Baptist’s joy complete.  

      Not many months after he was elected Pope, Pope Francis issued his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel, in November 2013. Joy is such a commonly used word, and perhaps misused word in our world today, that Pope Francis issued this document on the importance of Gospel joy and the joy of evangelization that we are to feel in our hearts as disciples of Christ. Pope Francis opened this document by saying: “The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus.  Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness, and loneliness.” This joy is open to everyone and is to exclude no one. What a great message for us to hear in a world that is so divided and so exclusionary in so many ways. Advent and Christmas are a busy time of the year. We have so much work to be done, so many social and family obligations, extra bills and expenses, extra chores and errands to run. We feel so busy and so stretched this time of the year. 

      How can we quiet our hearts and feel the joy of Christ inside with such a busy time of the year? How can we prepare for the coming of the Lord? Pope Francis said in his apostolic letter that all of us are invited to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus, to be open to let Jesus encounter us in the busy schedules of our lives. You might think that this message is not meant for you, but it is meant for all of us, no matter where we are on our journey of faith. We may think we are engaged as much as we can in our busy lives with our faith, to feel the joy of Christ inside of us, but perhaps God is still calling out to us today in certain ways. Wednesday, December 14, we will have our Advent reconciliation service, starting at 6:00 pm. We will have several priests here to listen to your confessions. It is common for a lot of Catholics to brush off and ignore the sacrament of reconciliation in our life of faith, to make excuses for not going, to think that we don’t need that sacrament. But, perhaps this is what we need right now on our Advent journey to experience a sense of joy or healing or peace in our lives. 

        I was reading an Advent reflection from the Little Blue Book; I came across this quote from Mother Teresa from when she accepted the Nobel Prize for Peace back on December 10, 1979 - “Let us keep that joy of loving Jesus in our hearts, and share that joy with all we come in touch with. That radiating joy is real, for we have no reason not to be happy, because we have Christ with us. Christ in our hearts, Christ in the poor we meet, Christ in the smile we give and Christ in the smile we receive.” Let us feel the joy of the Advent season with us at Mass today.  

14 December 2022 - Wednesday of the 3rd week in Advent - Memorial of St John of the Cross - Psalm 85

     We hear the psalmist declare today: the LORD proclaims peace to his people, that the Lord’s salvation is near to those who fear him and respect him, that glory dwells in our land.   This message is to be hopeful, comforting, and consoling for us amidst our sufferings and challenges in life. This brings us to the saint we celebrate today: Carmelite priest St John of the Cross. To put John of the Cross into his historical context, Martin Luther published his 95 theses in 1517, which stated the Protestant Reformation. John of the Cross, who became an important Church reformer himself, was born in 1542, just a few decades later, in this era of the Protestant reformation. We can describe John of the Cross not only as a Church reformer, but also as a mystic, a spiritual writer, a Doctor of the Church, and the spiritual advisor and confessor of the great Carmelite nun St Teresa of Avila.  John of the Cross is one of the greatest poets in the history of the Spanish language, his most famous poem being The Dark Night of the Soul. Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote this: “Just as we can never separate asceticism from mysticism, so in St John of the Cross we find darkness and light, suffering and joy, sacrifice and love united together so closely that they seem at times to be identified.” There are so many great quotes of St John of the Cross, but these very poetic words really speak to me: “Never was fount so clear, undimmed and bright; From it alone, I know proceeds all light,  although ’tis night.” Being a church reformer in the era of the Spanish Inquisition came at a cost for John.  He was imprisoned and reprimanded harshly by his fellow Carmelite monks, dying from an illness at the age of 49 during one of these times of being confined and harshly treated. 

     I have been to the country of Spain 7 different times. I remember when my plane landed in Spain in January 2016 for my pilgrimage journey, I immediately thought - I am in the land of John of the Cross, of Teresa of Avila, of Ignatius of Loyola, of John of Avila, some of the greatest figures in the history of Catholicism, and all of them came out of 16th century Spain. Let us give thanks for John of the Cross, we thank you for your courage, your mystical faith, your poetic words, your prophetic vision.  We unite our prayers to yours.

13 December 2022 - Tuesday of the 3rd week of Advent - Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13

      St Lucy, whose feast day we celebrate today, is a great Advent saint. Tradition passes down that Lucy was tortured during the Diocletian persecutions in the Roman empire in the early 4th century because of identify as a follower of the way of Jesus. She had her eyes removed during this torture, but God remarkably restored her eyesight. Today, Lucy remains the patron saint of the eyes and the blind.  

       The light of Christ enables us to live a life of faith. On the feast of St Lucy in Scandinavian countries, girls wearing a white dress, symbolizing the purity we have in Christ in our baptism, and a red sash, symbolizing Lucy’s martyrdom. The girls process with a wreath of candles on their head carrying a tray of cookies and sweet rolls for their family and friends. The feast of St Lucy comes near the time of the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and a time of great darkness in the world. Thus, the light of St Lucy shows us the light of Christ as we are close to our celebration of Christmas.

     We hear from a lot of different prophets and saints during the Advent season to help us prepare for the coming of our Lord. The variety of the prophets and saints that we hear from reflect the richness of our faith and the history of our Church. As we celebrate the feast day of St Lucy today, we hear from the prophet Zephaniah; he spoke out to the people of Judah 6 centuries before the birth of Christ, decrying the injustice and corruption in the society of his day. Zephaniah spoke of the need for conversion, repentance, and renewal. Yet, it is not a message of gloom and doom, but a message of hope, of a remnant who is true and humble to the Lord, who will live out their faith and carry it forward. We hear this message today as we prepare for our Advent reconciliation service here at Holy Savior tomorrow evening, where we will have an opportunity to acknowledge that we have indeed sinned and to ask the Lord for forgiveness with contrite hearts. We give thanks for our Advent prophets and saints who help us and guide us in the season of preparation.  

7 December 2022 - Wednesday of the 2nd week of Advent - Matthew 11:28-30

       I arrived in Ecuador more than 25 years ago, in May 1996, in order to serve for three years as a lay missionary. I remember that at the first year mark, I was reflecting upon my missionary work, really wondering what I had accomplished. I had arrived in the rain forest jungle, having to acclimate to a tropical climate and a very different culture and a language I did not know.  Yet, reflecting upon in through the lens of my faith, I acknowledged I was there working in the vineyard of the Lord, there to serve God with all my heart. Knowing that I was trying to please God and serve God, knowing that I was indeed accomplishing something under difficult circumstances, helped me put everything into perspective. We can feel very burdened by things in life, feeling overwhelmed by the reality around us.  Amidst it all, there is Jesus. We can find rest, encouragement, and fulfillment in our relationship with him, in the way our faith can put it all into perspective.  

     In the context of today’s Gospel, I want to mention today’s saint - St Ambrose. He lived in the 4th century, the same century in which the Christian faith became a recognized religion in the Roman Empire. Ambrose was the governor of the region of northern Italy when the Bishop died. The people of his region chose as the new bishop, as was the custom in that day. However, not only was Ambrose not a priest, but he was not even a baptized Christian at the time.  Ambrose was baptized, ordained a priest, and ordained a bishop in a very short period of time. As Bishop of Milan, Ambrose became an insightful commentator on Sacred Scripture and devoted himself to serving the poor. Ambrose became the mentor and spiritual advisor of St Augustine, who would become one of the great theologians in the history of the Church. One wonderfully simple but profound quote from St Ambrose is this: “No one heals himself by wounding another.” May we come to Jesus today with all that weighs us down on our Advent journey, asking for healing for ourselves and for others.

6 December 2022 - Tuesday of the 2nd week of Advent - St Nicholas - Matthew 18:12-14

      We can get lost in a lot of different ways in life, can’t we? I remember that one day on the Camino back in January 2015, I was hiking when there was a lot of snow on the ground. It was difficult seeing the markers on the trail. I was entering a village when suddenly everything looked very familiar. Upon seeing lady tending to chores in her garden. I asked her the name of the village, and it was the same village I had passed through 20 minutes earlier. I had missed a turn and had gone in a loop, returning to the same village. I felt frustrated and lost. We can feel lost if we are frustrated in a job that does not bring us fulfillment or when we are unemployed trying to find work. We can be lost in a broken friendship or in a troubling family relationship. We can become lost because of poor choices or addictions or exhaustion or lack of self-care. Many in our society today are lost in the values of the secular world, lost in their search for pleasure, not knowing where to find meaning in their lives. What did we do before we had a GPS to help us find our way when we are driving in our cars?  We used maps or asked someone for directions, didn’t we? Is it wise to leave 99 sheep unattended to find the lost one? God cares so much about the lost, the poor, and the forgotten that he will go out of his way to reach out to that one lost member of the flock. May our Advent prayer today be that we do not stray from the path of our faith, that we reach out to the lost. May we have the courage to reach out to those who are struggling or who are frustrated.

      Today, we celebrate St Nicholas, a great Advent saint. Both the Eastern and Western Churches honors Nicholas as a saint. He was a Bishop in Turkey during the 4th century. The Church passes down a legend about Bishop Nicholas having given three bags of gold to a poor man who needed to provide for dowries for his three daughters for their upcoming marriages. This legend has influenced that way we give gifts at Christmas time and has connected Nicholas to the figure of Santa Claus and to the season of Advent and Christmas. Another legend has Nicholas punching the heretic Arius in the face during the Council of Nicea as they were arguing issues about theology. It is funny how we humans can create a legend out of the facts, how those legends evolve over time. Our Advent journey is full of different stories, traditions, and legends. May our Advent journey and the examples of faith we have to lead us and guide us help us in preparing for the coming of the Lord. 

9 December 2022 – St Juan Diego – Friday of the Second Week of Advent - Luke 1:39-47

       In 1531, almost 500 years ago, a lady from heaven appeared to humble Juan Diego on Tepeyac hill in Mexico. She identified herself as the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. She requested that a church be built on that site, but the bishop asked Juan to bring him a sign that this was really the Blessed Mother. Mary sent Juan Diego to the top of the hill to collect roses to give to the bishop as his sign, since roses would not normally grow there in winter. Juan Diego collected the roses in his tilma, a type of poncho, made from cactus fibers. When Juan Diego unfurled his tilma to give the roses to the bishop, an image of Our Lady was revealed, miraculously imprinted on the tilma. This image still appears on the tilma today in the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. 

         Our advanced modern technology cannot explain the image and apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe that appeared so long ago. Over the centuries, Our Lady of Guadalupe has appealed to the hearts of the faithful throughout the world.  Many miracles and cures are attributed to her healing power. Millions of pilgrims visit the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City each year, making it one of the major Christian pilgrimage sites in the world.

         Even today, Our Lady of Guadalupe is the image of hope and liberation in Mexico and other countries in the Americas. Even the Knights of Columbus have adopted the image and story of Our Lady of Guadalupe as a symbol of the pro-life movement in the United States. The image that Juan Diego brought into the world has so much meaning on so many levels even for us today. 

         This feast day shows us how important Mary is as the mother of our Church. It also helps us to appreciate the Hispanic culture in our county today and the gifts that they bring to our Church and to our society. Just as her cousin Elizabeth called Mary blessed among women, we proclaim Mary blessed as well as we honor her in this special way on this feast day of St Juan Diego. In our faith, we may look to Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe as examples of faith, speaking out to us from a time and place so different from modern America, but with a message that still resonates with us today. 

         May the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the image of a poor native woman who will bear a child help us prepare a place in our hearts for the upcoming birth of Christ into our world. May Our Lady of Guadalupe inspire us to help others in our community and in our world. 

Reflection on the first Friday devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

     We at Holy Savior dedicate our daily Mass on the First Friday of the month to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, praying the litany of the Sacred Heart at the end of Mass.  First Friday practices date to the last decades of the 17th century, when Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary and spoke to her of His Sacred Heart. Among the promises Our Lord revealed to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647 - 1690), a cloistered French nun and mystic of the Order of the Visitation of Mary.  Among the promises the Lord revealed to her in his visits to her included this:  “In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.”  

     Devotion to the Sacred Heart grew after the death of St Mary Margaret. In 1856, the devotion was added to the church calendar by Pope Pius IX. Pope Pius XII explained that the devotion to the Sacred Heart is connected to our worship of Christ as God incarnate: “It is altogether impossible to enumerate the heavenly gifts which devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has poured out on the souls of the faithful, purifying them, offering them heavenly strength, rousing them to the attainment of all virtues…..That all may understand more exactly the teachings which the selected texts of the Old and New Testament furnish concerning this devotion, they must clearly understand the reasons why the Church gives the highest form of worship to the Heart of the divine Redeemer.”
      Jesus’s profound love for us is demonstrated through his willingness to sacrifice his life for our sake. The love from his heart motivated all his actions: His inner life manifested in his heart demonstrated virtues and sacrifice. Yet this great love is often received with ingratitude, even by the faithful. The purpose of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is to focus our hearts on receiving and returning his love with gratitude, with all of our heart, soul, and strength, that he may be glorified.
      In 1889, Pope Leo XIII permitted priests and bishops worldwide to offer a votive Mass of the Sacred Heart on the first Friday of each month in churches or oratories where special devotions to the Sacred Heart were held,  This devotion has been followed by many faithful in the Church to this day. 
     We will celebrate a votive Mass to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the First Friday, December 2, at 8:30 am.  We invite you to come and pray with us.  Father Lincoln.