Message in a Minute for December 15:
Today has always been one of my favorite days of the liturgical year. This is Gaudete Sunday. It is one of my favorite days, not because I get to wear these fancy Rose vestments (ok maybe they are pink…), but because we light our third candle. This Gaudete Sunday is a signal the Christmas is coming soon. Indeed, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas with cold in the air and decorations on people’s houses. The day is quickly coming. So today is a day of Joy, amidst our patient waiting of Advent. I think this mirrors our life in many ways.
It is certainly true that there is a great deal of patient waiting in this life. We wait in our cars, we wait in our homes, we wait at banks, restaurants, you name it. There is a great deal of waiting. In fact, I think that the modern parent probably spends half of his/her life sitting in a car waiting on kids. I know that I don’t like to wait, I’m not very patient, I like things to happen right away. But, what makes waiting bearable is always what is at the other end. As long as we keep our goal in sight, we are able to wait with patience.
The same is true in our life of faith. We are in the season of Advent, which asks us to patiently wait for the coming of Christ at Christmas, but also prepares us for the arrival of Christ when he will come again. Sometimes life seems all too full of waiting for God that we might tend toward losing our patience. This is why we need to keep the goal in our sights.
This week’s Rose vestments help us to do this with Christmas. This symbol is a blending of the purple of Advent and the white of Christmas. It is almost like Christmas is starting to break through the purple of Advent. So, by setting our sights on the end, which is Christmas, it fills us with joy as we continue to wait.
It shouldn’t be any different as we prepare to meet Christ on the last day. The joy of his coming should break into our daily lives, filling them with joy as well. Let’s keep a lookout for all the times that we catch a glimpse of the joy of God’s kingdom breaking into our lives. These glimpses help us to stay patient as we await the fullness of the kingdom of God.
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