Rejoice in the Lord always; I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near – this entrance antiphon embodies the Third Sunday of Advent. We are called to the joy that flows from the Lord. Having passed the midpoint of Advent the Church encourages us to continue our spiritual preparation for the second coming of Christ and obviously for the feast of His Nativity. Today during the Mass a priest can wear rose vestments instead of purple ones that are normally used in the season of Advent.

In today’s Gospel we find St. John the Baptist in the centre of all the events. He was not only a good and radical preacher, but also his teaching was very practical. When various groups of people came to him asking what they should do, he told each of them what to do in order to live a life pleasing the Lord. He told them a general rule how to truly love their neighbour and gave them specific pieces of advice accordingly to their professions.
Today, we are also called to live a holy life dedicated to the Lord despite of our occupation, social status or position. The call to holiness binds every authentic follower of Jesus.

This Monday, December 17th, we begin the second part of Advent that is directly dedicated to the mystery of the Nativity of the Lord. Therefore, during the 8 last days before Christmas in the liturgical calendar there is no special feast or memorial of saints.

The Filipino Community continues the Novena to Baby Jesus with a Mass and special prayers in our church. On Thursday, December 20th, we are going to have a common Mass with them at 7 pm and an Advent Celebration in the church hall to follow. Everybody is welcome!
The final days of Advent are a good opportunity to prepare not only our church and homes for the upcoming feasts but our hearts as well through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Saint John the Baptist, direct our hearts to the right desires, so that we may truly rejoice at the Lord!

God bless,
Fr. Peter