It is Gaudete Sunday, “Rejoice Sunday”!
In most Advent seasons, Gaudete Sunday marks the halfway point in Advent. This year with Advent lasting 3 weeks and about 10 hours, we are almost to Christmas Day. This is the time when little children begin to salivate at the thought of all the Christmas cookies, candy, and other Christmas treats they will be eating. And, yes, the presents, the little kids will salivate at the thought of those. While all of the food, the treats, and presents are good reasons to cause one to rejoice, the bottom line is that the food and treats will be eaten and disappear. The toys and other gifts received may break, or be played with and laid aside, or returned. The readings for today, however, give us the true reason to rejoice on this Sunday.
From Isaiah we hear, “The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD.” These words, though spoken thousands of years ago, have never gotten stale or moldy like food, nor have they ever been cast aside due to boredom. These words from the prophet Isaiah still excite us, still give us cause to rejoice, because we know that they have been fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. And, though Jesus has risen and ascended to the Father, we know that these words will be fulfilled again, when Jesus returns at the end of time.
To breathe in the excitement and the wonder of that first coming when the whole world had a cause to rejoice, I invite you to join our students from the Disciples of Christ formation program at our Christmas pageant at 7 pm this coming Wednesday evening, December 20th, at St. John the Evangelist Church in Union Hill. The Christmas pageant will be celebrated within a Word and Communion service, in which we will not only see the words of the Christmas story enacted, but at which we will also receive the risen Lord in Holy Communion. Refreshments will follow the pageant in Koenig Hall on the lower level of St. John’s School.
