Gaudete Sunday Reflection

Gaudete Sunday Reflection


By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy

www.missionstsergius.org

Based on Readings from: Zephaniah 3:14-18, Philippians’ 4:4-7,Luke 3:10-18,



"Shout for joy, daughter of Zion, Israel, shout aloud! Rejoice, exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem!" these words from the book of Zephaniah 3:14-18 and the following from St. Paul, in his letter to the people of Philippi, sends us a very powerful message on how to live our life when he begins with these words; “I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord; I repeat, what I want is your happiness. Let your tolerance be evident to everyone: the Lord is very near…..There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus.”

These messages of hope are the reason this Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday, Meaning a Sunday to Rejoice .and the vestments are ROSE rather than purple.

During this season of advent as we prepare ourselves for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and the salvation his coming brought to all of the human race we should reflect on what Paul tell us in his letter to the Philippians. “Always be full of joy in the Lord. … Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Do not worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. …. Now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing, fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” "Rejoice in the Lord!"

With so many grumbling about one thing or another these days and with the economy and the world in a state of turmoil and with the daily news services reporting one horrible event after another it might seem difficult to REJOICE.. Just the knowledge that so many children of God around the world are living in poverty, suffering from discrimination, homeless, and being killed because of the greed and power seeking of others, we might wonder how we could ever REJOICE IN THE LORD!

It might just be that the cause of all the suffering facing the world today is that so many have put God totally out of their daily lives and replaced Him with the desire for fame, fortune, power and just plain greed.

Many claim that they are too busy to give God a portion of their time every day or even on Sunday.

They have to work, shop, a game of golf or a sporting event to go to or some other reason rather than take an hour of time devoted to Thanking God and Seeking God’s blessings.

If they would just take some time to think they might come to the realization that all good things came from the creator. If only they realize that, just maybe, they might come to the awareness that they need to thank God for what He has provided them and acknowledge God’s presence in their life.

People are so busy decorating their houses and purchasing gifts in preparing to celebrate Christmas, Chanukah or Kwanzaa that they focus is on the commercial aspects of the holidays and people forget what true meaning of these holidays; REJOICING IN GOD’S GOODNESS AND GIVING THANKS.

Without God, none of these holidays would exist.

Let’s make sure that we have set aside time in these last two weeks of Advent to thank God for all He has provided us. Let’s plan to attend a religious ceremony as a part of our celebration plans. For those who are Christian, attend church and receive the Eucharist.

The Gospel tells us the way to live with these words; “If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same.’ There were tax collectors too who came for baptism, and these said to him, ‘Master, what must we do?’ He said to them, ‘Exact no more than your rate.’ Some soldiers asked him in their turn, ‘What about us? What must we do?’ He said to them, ‘No intimidation! No extortion! Be content with your pay!”

Christmas is the time we set aside to recognize Christ’s coming here in order to teach us the way to happiness and everlasting peace and open the way for us to achieve eternal salvation.

Let us acknowledge that precious gift from God, the Gift of His beloved son and make room in our lives every day to “Rejoice in Him” through prayer and works of charity, compassion and love for ALL God’s children. Let us strive to live our life every day in a manner that is in accordance with the way Christ instructed in this weeks Gospel reading and let us work toward being more considerate, compassionate, understanding, forgiving and caring person to all we encounter in our daily life. rather than just concentrating on our own needs.

What a wonderful way to present our gift to Almighty God in thanksgiving for all He has done for us. AMEN



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Mary, A Lesson on Trusting in God

Mary, A Lesson on Trusting In God


By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD,

Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy

www.missionstsergius.org

Email: Mission_St_Sergius@msn.com



The Feast of The Immaculate Conception celebrates Our Lady‘s complete trust in Almighty God. We celebrate God’s greatest gift to humankind, His beloved son Jesus Christ, and the fact that God decided that Mary would be free of original sin that the rest of humankind is prone to so that she would be a pure vessel for Christ to be conceived in by the Holy Spirit and nurtured to human life for nine months.

When the Angel Gabriel, informed her that God had chosen her to bear the promised of the ages with these words "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.” Luke 1:29-35. Mary asked; “How can this be, for I know not man?. "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”

This fulfilled the promise from God when He drove Satan from the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:14-16 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” and in Isaiah 11: 1: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse: from his roots a branch will bear fruit.”.

What faith in God Mary must have had to accept this message. After all, the punishment for having a sexual relation without being married was to be stoned to death as an adulteress.

Mary’s response to Gabriel’s message was “Let it be done to me according to God’s will” Luke 1:38

In our daily live we are often faced with challenges or situations where we have great apprehension do we respond to them with “Let it be done to me according to God’s will” as Mary did or do we gross and complain because things are difficult.?

What went through Our Blessed Mothers mind when Simeon told her "A sword will pierce your own soul too." Luke 2: 34-35 I think if I had been told this, I would run away rather than face a future filled with suffering.

Mary was an example on how we should respond to the challenges God sends us because, as we have seen from how this story turned out, God will also give us the tools to deal with the problems he sends.

Mary placed her trust in the message of Gabriel as we should also in our life. We need to seek God in prayer and putting our trust in God will for us.

When we we do this we come through our difficulties alright.

Even Jesus, when faced with what was about to happen after His entry into Jerusalem cried out to God "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." Matthew 26:41-43

On Dec. 8th, 1957 I could not fall asleep because of thoughts flashing through my mind, I finally got up and wrote down what I was thinking and went to fall into a peaceful and deep sleep. Upon awakening the following day I noticed a paper with writing on it. After reading it I thought, “My mother will like this” and mailed it off to her. 30 years later, after mom passed on, I found the original paper I had written that night. I end this reflection with the words I wrote that Dec. 8th 1957 which I have called A Sinners Prayer.

A SINNER’S PRAYER

Written in 1957 By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFD



O, Mary Immaculate, virgin so fair, mother of Our Savior, please hear my prayer.

Intercede, dearest mother, to your heavenly son.

Tell Him I am truly sorry for all the wrongs and sins I have done.

Ask Him to guide me, by the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit, in all of my ways

So that I might give Him honor, glory and praise with all the Heavenly elect when I come to the end of my earthly days. AMEN