Rejoice, Y’all!
Dear All Saints Parish Family,
This third Sunday of the holy Advent season is called Gaudete Sunday, a title it gets from the entrance antiphon of today’s Mass: Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete! It’s the Latin (which is still the official language of the Church) of Philippians 4:4 which reads: “Rejoice, I say it again, rejoice!”
The Word of God instructs–even commands–us to rejoice this weekend and in reality, always. St. Paul’s instruction goes on to give us the why…why should we rejoice? “Because the Lord is near,” he says. As my favorite Christmas song declares, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining / till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.”
That one line stands out to me every year, serving as a powerful reminder that rejoicing happens both spontaneously when circumstances are good, but we can also be intentional about rejoicing, choosing to rejoice even when our circumstances are not so good. If Christ’s closeness is our reason for rejoicing, and He has brought us into the life of the Trinity through Baptism, then there is always cause for rejoicing, because the Lord is always with us.
Some of us may find ourselves in a season or moment of life wherein we’d love to rejoice but things are just too heavy. The antidote to pain, suffering, injustice, weakness, our own sin…is always to get a little closer to Jesus, or to at least surround ourselves with people who are striving to stay close to Him!
I’d like to take this opportunity to invite you to become aware of an incredible ministry we have here at All Saints, the Divine Mercy Prayer Group. This dedicated group of prayer warriors receives prayer intentions from our parish community and intentionally and faithfully lifts them up to the gates of Heaven. Anyone can submit prayer requests, and anyone can become part of the intercessory team. The intercession brings souls to the Lord, much like the friends of the paralytic who climbed a house and punched through a roof to get their friend close to Jesus. His presence brings healing, His closeness brings rejoicing.
If you’d like to do either of those things (submit prayer requests or join the prayer team) please email divinemercy@allsaintsdunwoody.org.
May the Lord show us His closeness through the Most Holy Eucharist, through the grace of a good confession, through our diving into His Word, through the compassion of His disciples, giving us each cause for rejoicing as the celebration of His birth draws ever nearer, the light that overwhelms the darkness.
Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!
All you holy saints of God, pray for us!
Peace in Christ,
Fr. Michael Silloway
Pastor