Gaudete in Domino semper

December 14, 2014

by Father Jack Shrum

Gaudete in Domino semper!

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.

Philippians 4:4-5

Dear friends,

Let us take to heart these words from the Apostle St. Paul. This whole season of Advent is one of joyful anticipation for the Lord’s coming. Let us not get ahead of ourselves either. While many are already celebrating our holy mother the Church, her liturgy reminds us that while He is near, He has not yet come. And yet all the while we know He has come, and is coming, and will come again one final and definitive time.

That the Lord has come is a truth that fills our lives with hope. In this season of Advent then, we are invited by the Church to remember with the Israelites the great longing they had for the coming of the Messiah, the Christ who was foretold, the One who was to come and set them free. This then, stirs up the longing in our hearts for the second coming of Him who has set us free and saved us from our iniquities. He walks with us on our pilgrimage through this valley of tears. He is so close to us in our journey that we often take His presence for granted. Jesus said to St. Margaret Mary,

Behold the Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify Its love; and in return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrilege, and by the coldness and contempt they have for Me in this Sacrament of Love. But what I feel most keenly is that it is hearts which are consecrated to Me, that treat Me thus.

In these days we can learn so much from the one who loved His most precious Sacred Heart more than any other. The Blessed Virgin Mary, our blessed mother, wants to prepare our hearts to receive Him anew in these days. Having just celebrated two of her great feasts last week, her Immaculate Conception and her apparition to St. Juan Diego as Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Church gets us ready to receive our long awaited Savior. Mama Mary prepares our hearts, as she did 10,000,000 of our brothers and sisters in Mexico, to receive the true God, to receive the One who is the reason for our Hope.

As we focus our attention and energy in these days on Jesus, our hearts are filled with joyful hope as was the heart of Our Lady after she received the greeting from the Archangel Gabriel. After she conceived by the Holy Spirit, Jesus was living, abiding, growing in her womb. After we receive Him in the Eucharist, He is living, abiding, and growing in our hearts. This season is one of nurturing. We are called to nurture Jesus in our hearts. A wonderful way to do this is to spend time with Him in Adoration. Come and foster that longing in your heart in these days. Stop by the church for a visit. Ask Jesus to stir up in you a desire to know, love, and serve Him who has come to you with such great love as to give His life for you.

Ponder the gift of Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist and hear Him give this invitation to you:

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart;

and you will find rest for yourselves.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.

Matt 11:28-30

Fr. Jack D. Shrum