Wow!  Is it just me, or did Summer go past inordinately fast this year?   Oh, and an important reminder:  TURN YOUR CLOCKS BACK 1 HOUR THIS WEEKEND!  We depart daylight savings time and return to standard time. 

 

Only 3 more Sundays before we transition into the season of Advent!  During Ordinary Time, the time between Pentecost and Advent, our liturgical environment has been predominantly green, a color symbolic of life, renewal and growth. This is a continuation time of Pentecost when the Gospel is spread, or grown, throughout the world.

 

As we move into Advent our environment will take on a purple color which is both representative of Christ's royalty and penitence or preparation.  Advent is a preparation time for the coming of our Lord Jesus.  The 1st Advent candle is called the Prophecy Candle to remind us that Jesus' coming was foretold centuries before he was born and the purple color represents His royalty as King of Kings.  The 2nd purple candle is called the Bethlehem Candle to remind us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and the purple color reminds us of His royalty, that the King of Kings was born there. The 3rd Sunday of Advent, called Gaudete (Gaw DAY tay - which means "Rejoice") Sunday, sometimes called "Rose Sunday" the vestments and environment are rose colored which represents a lightening, or enlightenment.  It is represented also in the rose colored candle on the Advent wreath which is called the Shepherds' Candle to remind us that God came first to ordinary men to announce the coming of the King (Jesus) and still uses ordinary people to spread the Good News of Christ.  Its rose color represents God's love and faithfulness.  The 4th candle is called the Angel Candle and we are reminded of the heavenly host that proclaimed Christ's arrival with "Behold!  I bring unto you good tiding of great joy!"  Purple again to remind us of a Kings birth.

 

It is nice to anticipate the coming of the Advent Season and enter into it with a mind centered on the "reason for the season".  Focusing on preparation for the coming of Jesus and celebrating God's arrival into our midst, becoming a part of the human condition, helps keep the stress of the secular celebrations in check for me!  The Advent Wreath is our families way of celebrating daily the single best gift God has ever given to us - the eternal gift of His son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  

 

IN the meantime, we celebrate the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time!  The first reading from the book of Wisdom extols God’s deep love for mankind and His ability and willingness to guide us past our sins toward Him.  God corrects our faults so that we will turn to Him, our God.  I featured this reading in the preamble of this post because it is so meaningful to me, the expression of God's love and how God loves all that He creates, and nothing can remain created without God's love.  If you, or anyone, ever doubts God's unconditional love for you, this is your mantra scripture, and mine!  "...for what you hated, you would not have fashioned."  I can think of only one thing that God hates: sin.  God did not create sin.  What an amazing scripture!

In the Gospel reading we enjoy a comical impression of a very short man, a tax collector names Zacchaeus (zack AY ous)who is a known cheater, who is curious about who Jesus is and wants to see him but he is so short that he cannot see around or above the crowds!  So, Zacchaeus runs to a sycamore tree and climbs it and waits for Jesus to pass so he can see him.  As Jesus approaches he calls out to him, “Zacchaeus, come down!  Hurry!  I want to stay at your house today!” (As we know from previous readings, the Pharisees are quite upset that Jesus would stay at the home of a known sinner!)  Zacchaeus, who is very excited to welcome Jesus to his home, says to Jesus, “Lord, I am going to give half of everything I have to the poor.  And if I have ever cheated anyone
out of money, I am going to pay them back four times as much.”  Then Jesus says to Zacchaeus, “Today you have been saved because you, too, are one of the family of Abraham.  For I have come to seek and to save the people who are lost.”

There are two very important points to the Gospel reading which must be emphasized and taken to heart:

    1.  Jesus came to look for sinners so he could save them

    2.  When we truly meet Jesus, we change our lives.

We can see clearly how these two points were demonstrated in the Gospel reading.  It was Jesus who spoke to Zacchaeus, finding him in the tree and calling to him to come down.  Jesus is particularly drawn to sinners because that is the purpose of His coming, to save us from our sins.  Jesus is the lamb of God, the final sacrifice for all mankind, that takes away the sins of the world.  Zacchaeus makes an immediate change in his life beginning with the fact that he calls Jesus, not by his name, but “Lord”, and redeems himself by promising to give half of everything he has to the poor and promising to repay anyone he has cheated four times as much.  This is a
shining example for us to follow.  It exemplifies the belief and understanding and faith that those who meet Jesus change their lives and follow Him.  When we meet Jesus, we change our lives.  Presumably we have all met Jesus, therefore the question stands:

         “Have we changed our lives?”

God has always made paths that lead us to Him.  He so loves mankind, His beloved creation, that He has done extraordinary things to look past our sins and instead make paths that bring us closer to Him and His love and mercy.  Jesus is the ultimate path, God made man, in the final extraordinary covenant between God and His creation, mankind.  Jesus did not seek out the holy and wise, he looked for the sinners and he saved them.  Just as doctors do not heal well people, Jesus did not come to save people who did not need saving. He came to cure the sick.  Understanding this brings us a deeper appreciation for the ministry of Christ Jesus and of His passion and death on the cross.  This story occurs on the way to that end.  We must pay attention to what Jesus did and said while he walked among us because it shows us the path to our own salvation.   

The Psalm this week is #145 I Will Praise Your Name.  

This Psalm version uses the alternate refrain “The Lord is near, to all who call him….”  
But we will use “I will praise - your name forever.  I will praise - my king and my God.”  This song can be found in the Spirit and Song hymnal #285.

In the second reading for this Sunday is a prayer that hopes for all mankind to be made worthy of God’s calling and that our acts of faith glorify our Lord Jesus!

2 Thes 1:11 – 2:2
Brothers and sisters:
We always pray for you,
that our God may make you worthy of His calling
and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose
and every effort of faith,
that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,
and you in him,
in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.

Have a most blessed week!

 

In Christ, through Mary,

            Elaine