Bob Jensen

On behalf of our entire parish staff I wish you and your family a wondrous and blessed Christmas season.  In the midst of this stubborn pandemic may we allow the light of our Savior’s birth to break through the darkness that shrouds us.  As we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family this weekend may we consecrate our own families to our gracious God.  May we give thanks for each one of our family members.  May we forgive what needs to be forgiven and be healed where we need to be healed.  May the peace of Christ which is beyond all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and God’s son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is only fitting that as we approach Christmas that the figure of Mary should be at the heart of our Gospel reading this Fourth Sunday of Advent and that Elizabeth should have a supporting role.  In Luke’s understanding of God’s plan of salvation, the lowly are chosen by God in order to humble the mighty, and the poor are chosen to bear God’s message to the rich who are stubborn of heart.  Both Elizabeth and Mary fit this description perfectly.

Elizabeth is barren and supposedly too old to bear a child; Mary is a peasant girl, whose status puts her at the margins of society.  Both are women and therefore considered voiceless in the society of their day.  Yet both women are chosen for a grand purpose.  Both women cooperate with God’s grace with little doubt.  “For nothing will be impossible for God.”  The story of Mary’s yes to the will of God is told on this Sunday immediately prior to the celebration of the Lord’s birth because it is important for the Church to understand that salvation depends upon humanity’s free will and cooperation with God.  God’s plan of salvation is not forced upon us; we must say yes to his designs.

 

Catholic Christians traditionally call this “Gaudete Sunday” (Latin gaudere, “to rejoice,” from the Entrance Antiphon) to stress the joy of anticipating the Lord’s coming.  Today’s texts express the joy of the watcher who heralds the dawn while standing between darkness and light.

John is a dour man in a camel-hair tunic who eats a ghastly diet foraged from the wilderness.  But a distinct joy infuses the New Testament texts about him, springing from his privileged position as forerunner and friend of Jesus.  His mother Elizabeth hears the greeting of Mary and says, “The child in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44).  In the fourth Gospel account, John came “to testify to the light” (John 1:7), saw Christ’s glory, “full of grace and truth,” and cried out in witness to his majesty (1:14).  Later, when Jesus first came to him, John exclaimed, “Here is the Lamb of God” (1:29).  He then surrendered his disciples to Jesus and described his joy with a vivid metaphor:  “The best man rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.  So this joy of mine has been made complete.  He must increase; but I must decrease” (3:29-30).  This is the joy in the Isaiah text applied to John today, all the more striking for the contrast between the prophet’s “garments of salvation” and John’s rough clothing.

Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians strongly anticipates the Lord’s coming, while also reminding readers to “rejoice always” (5:16).  How would you describe the character of joy in a time of waiting?

 

It never takes long in the season of Advent for our patron John the Baptist to make an entrance.  He is the precursor, the one who comes to prepare the way for the one who is to follow.  Unlike those Jesus chooses to be his disciples, John embodies the characteristics of a true disciple.  It is clear from Mark’s Gospel that his effort to herald the coming of God’s kingdom and the need for the people to respond with a complete change of life was very successful.  Mark tells us that people from the whole countryside and those from the city of Jerusalem were going out to hear John and being baptized by him as they acknowledged their sins.  The disciple’s call is to attract people to embrace conversion.  John is an undeniable success, but remains humble in his ministry.  Every Christian is to embody the selfless outlook of John the Baptist, one who is willing to decrease so that the Lord himself may increase.

During every Mass, immediately after the Our Father, the priest says a short prayer known as the embolism: “Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

This prayer is particularly meaning full during Advent, the season when we consciously “await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ” with joyful expectation.. This kind of waiting is often difficult, as joy and expectation do not generally characterize our everyday experiences of waiting. Few of us are filled with hope as we sit in a traffic jam, stand at a bust stop, or wait for the pandemic to ease. We shop online and are willing to pay for guaranteed two-day (or overnight) delivery. We assume that Wi-Fi access will be fast and omnipresent-and we grow less patient when we have to wait for websites, audio or video to load. Amid these everyday experiences, the Advent liturgies play a crucial role in teaching and reminding us how we ought to wait with joyful expectation.

May this Advent season, different as it is, help us prepare for the Lord’s coming, both at Christmas and at the end of time. We do not wail alone. We have each other. May we grow in our capacity to receive all that our new born Savior has to offer.

Thanksgiving Day celebrations are going to be very different this year for many families, mine included. When I was invited to be a part of a zoom meeting I politely declined. I felt that it would trigger more of a feeling of isolation knowing that I could not join another household for a dinner that would ensue. Then my nephew Scott called. He would come up from Bonney Lake that afternoon, join me for the zoom meeting and bring some food. I only would need to bring the dinner rolls. That generous offer changed my disposition. True thankfulness ensued. Yes, there would be masks & social distancing but there would also be some semblance of family. My prayer is that we make the most of this holiday season. It will be different. However there still is much to be thankful for, namely family, friends, our faith, and especially God’s love and care for us. I am thankful for all of you. Your words of encouragement mean a great deal to me. Have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving.

Our Thanksgiving Day mass will be at 10 am Thursday. You are invited to bring food for your table to be blessed as well as food for our local food bank