A rosy Gaudete Sunday
December 14, 2015
My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
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| "I said rose…Rose…” |
I hope you had a wonderful Gaudete Sunday! The scripture we heard from Philippians is one of my favorite. St. Paul says “Rejoice in the Lord always,” then, to make sure we get it, he tells us again! Along with that deep-seated joy comes a peace given by God. It is such a blessing to have the time of Advent to prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ.
Also on Gaudete Sunday, Bishop Farrell opened the Holy Door of Mercy at the Cathedral. To receive a Jubilee Year Indulgence, you have to fulfill the usual conditions (found here) and perform the indulgenced act (passing through a designated Holy Door during the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy), or you perform one of the corporal or spiritual works of mercy.
On Wednesday, December 16th, praymorenovenas.com will begin their annual Christmas Novena. Every year they pray this novena with the intention to end abortion. They’ve grown to over 210,000 praying together! If you want to sign up, they email you prayers and reminders for every novena and collect prayer intentions for all those signed up.
And to finish with more joy, here is encouragement from Pope Francis.
From the Joy of the Gospel, Paragraph 279
Because we do not always see these seeds growing, we need an interior certainty, a conviction that God is able to act in every situation, even amid apparent setbacks: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Cor 4:7). This certainty is often called “a sense of mystery”. It involves knowing with certitude that all those who entrust themselves to God in love will bear good fruit (cf. Jn 15:5). This fruitfulness is often invisible, elusive and unquantifiable. We can know quite well that our lives will be fruitful, without claiming to know how, or where, or when. We may be sure that none of our acts of love will be lost, nor any of our acts of sincere concern for others. No single act of love for God will be lost, no generous effort is meaningless, no painful endurance is wasted. All of these encircle our world like a vital force. Sometimes it seems that our work is fruitless, but mission is not like a business transaction or investment, or even a humanitarian activity. It is not a show where we count how many people come as a result of our publicity; it is something much deeper, which escapes all measurement. It may be that the Lord uses our sacrifices to shower blessings in another part of the world which we will never visit. The Holy Spirit works as he wills, when he wills and where he wills; we entrust ourselves without pretending to see striking results. We know only that our commitment is necessary. Let us learn to rest in the tenderness of the arms of the Father amid our creative and generous commitment. Let us keep marching forward; let us give him everything, allowing him to make our efforts bear fruit in his good time. (emphasis mine)
Please pray especially for all those on the Catholics Come Home list to return to the Church this Christmas, that whatever has kept them away from the Faith will be healed.
St. John of the Cross, pray for us!
God bless,
Susan Platt
CPLC Prayer Ministry Director
Picture Credit: Fr. John Zuhlsdorf’s blog
Tags: Advent