GRIFFITH – Gaudete Sunday is the third Sunday of Advent, a mid-point celebration in the Christian season of preparation for Christmas. Marked by the Latin word for "rejoice," it creates a shift to lighter, joyful themes, symbolized by the liturgical color rose (pink) instead of penitential purple for priestly vestments and Advent wreath candles, signifying that Christmas, and the Lord's coming, are near.
Bishop Robert J. McClory celebrated Mass at St. Mary in Griffith on Gaudete Sunday, Dec. 14. During the service, he focused on the joy that comes with the Christmas season and how the words O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, often used during Advent, can have a variety of meanings, from reflecting on the past to focusing on the future.
Bishop McClory started his homily recalling an image he had seen years ago in a Blockbuster Video, a home movie and video game rental chain from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. What he saw on a sign, which was missing a few letters, read “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Advent” instead of “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”
“If you’ve ever seen the movie, it’s about time travel,” the bishop explained. “A time-traveling phone booth takes them to the past, it takes them to the future and of course to the present.”
Bishop McClory went on to describe Advent as a period of “time traveling,” alluding to the different ways in which the words O Come, O Come, Emmanuel are used. The first way, he noted, is to say ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’ in the same manner as those who awaited the birth of Jesus.
“Those in the past, our Jewish brothers and sisters, were longing for the Messiah,” Bishop McClory said. “We can remember what that was like and go back in time and say ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel.’”
He continued, “Then we also say ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’ looking to the future because Jesus came, died and rose from the dead for us, and we anticipate the second coming. So, we place ourselves into the future and say ‘Lord, we need you. Please come again.’”
Turning the attention back to the present, the bishop reminded the congregation again that the Third Week of Advent celebrates Gaudete Sunday, also known as Rejoice Sunday. The bishop, acknowledging it can be hard for some people to feel like rejoicing, proposed the question “How can we rejoice in the middle of a world that has challenges, difficulties and problems?”
“We can do so because we can also pray that O Come, O Come, Emmanuel in the present and ask that the Lord comes before our hearts right now, right here in this very church, in our very lives.”
Bishop McClory said the faithful can rejoice because the Lord has done so many great things for them already, and he encouraged them to present their needs to God in thanksgiving.
“Today, we rejoice,” he said. “The Lord has come, the Lord will come. We thank him for what he did on the cross 2,000 years ago. We can look forward to the Lord’s return. But right here, right now, let us call to mind all those things he has done for us. Let us invite him to come into our hearts. And if we do that, then we will truly have an excellent Advent.”
Father Keith Virus, pastor, said the parishioners enjoyed listening to Bishop McClory, with many commenting on his insightful homily.
“It is always nice to feel connected to a larger Church community,” Father Virus said. “They like seeing him here.”
Sunday liturgies are just one way the Griffith parish has been celebrating the Advent season. From the first week of Advent, 2nd-grade students from the school and religious education program have been lighting the Advent candles in church at the start of Mass. Students will also dress up like the Three Kings during the Epiphany Masses.
The upcoming Christmas Masses at St. Mary will be held on Dec. 24 at 4:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., and on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. For more information about the parish, visit https://smgriffith.org/
