Rejoice! 
In the midst of a penitent season the Church call us to rejoice. Why? Because of Emmanuel: God with us. In the first reading from Isaiah 35:1-6a,10 we hear

Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you.

Emmanuel: God with us. I was reading the Holy Father's words for this Gaudete Sunday and he says “Advent, then, is a time for overturning our perspectives … for letting ourselves be surprised by the greatness of God’s mercy,”

Yes indeed. Last week I shared with a group a zoom presentation on advent and the experience of longing  and I said "I am aware of my sinfulness but Advent calls me to re-discover my saintliness"  and we can do so if we as Pope Francis says we ourselves be surprised by the greatness of God’s mercy. 

John the Baptist needed to re-discover his saintliness while he was in prison and knowing that he was certainly going to die there. He  was the voice in the wilderness crying 'prepare the way of the Lord', he was the prophet who proclaimed 'behold the Lamb of God', he was the one who baptized Jesus but now in prison doubt invaded his mind and he sent his disciples to Jesus with a question "Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?"

Gaudete John! Jesus response was the affirmation of Isaiah's prophecy:

"Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me."

Pope Francis speaking about John said, “even the greatest believer goes through the tunnel of doubt.” 

“And this is not a bad thing; on the contrary, sometimes it is essential for spiritual growth: it helps us understand that God is always greater than we imagine him to be” 
It is applicable to us today as we too often enter that tunnel of doubt.

Gaudete in Domino semper (Rejoice in the Lord Always): Emmanuel (God is with us) in every circumstance in our lives. God is with us on the mountaintop, in the dark valley.

Like John the Baptist let us heed the words of Isaiah "Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not!"

'Guadete!' is a Latin imperative, a command. 

I pray that we all rediscover our saintliness this Advent.

Peace,
​Deacon Michel


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