3rd Sunday of Advent, Year C | Dec 12, 2021
Editor’s Note: Each week, we open the archives to share a previously unpublished homily from Fr. Brian for the upcoming Sunday. Whether you are preparing to preach or preparing your heart for Mass, we hope this offers a fresh perspective on the readings. – Jessica
Liturgical Context: [Advent 3C] Related Homilies: [2015] • [2018] Scripture: [Link to USCCB Readings]
The 1st entry I ever wrote in my gratitude journal was January 28, 2019.
4 days after I learned that Dametrius Benson had been murdered.
I remember clearly grasping the little notebook and choosing to write 5 things that had made me grateful from that day.
Things that had brought me joy in the midst of such incredible sorrow.
Finishing an audiobook as I ironed purificators for the chapel
Laughing with friends over an inside joke I still remember
Notes colleagues had written me
A visit with a graduate who just wanted to check in
My sentimental playlist that I had cried to in the shower that morning.
I’ve never stopped writing in that notebook.
Through all the different seasons of the last four years, my gratitude lists have continued.
Monumental moments of joy that changed my life
The day my niece was born.
The day I was accepted into grad school.
Moments that come with this job that bring me so much joy.
Hearing a confession on a retreat, watching a child unload all the weight they carry. Embracing them as the tears freely fall.
Standing at the altar watching a former student get married, beaming with pride.
Jumping onto a desk in excitement, getting so involved in a conversation in class that I lose track of time.
Watching as young men in white tuxes and burgundy blazers embrace the next chapter in their lives.
Moments with friends and family that sustain me with the joy they bring into my life.
Dinners by the waterfront and walks around Wilmington.
Making puzzles and watching movies.
Visits and embraces. Swinging little kids in my arms and listening to all of the adventures in between.
Phone calls that last long into the night
Simple moments of quiet joy.
A cup of hot chocolate. My favorite song.
No traffic on my drive home. The 1st snowfall.
A simple text. A delicious sandwich. An inflatable Baby Yoda.
A lovely nap. A quiet chapel. A completed to do list.
And through that journal, I have learned the truth at the heart of our readings on this Guadete Sunday.
Which is that the call to rejoice always is both the great gift and the great challenge that is entrusted to each of us.
It seems so fitting that this call to rejoice comes into the midst of an Advent season in which both the promise and the peril of the present moment are laid before us.
A time in which we seek the light, even though we are surrounded by darkness.
A time in which we wait for peace, even as we witness the violence.
A time in which we work for the birth of a kingdom, rooted in justice for all God’s people. Even as we are deeply aware of the injustice that defines the present age.
A time in which we are promised comfort and consolation, even as we mourn and grieve.
For it is exactly in this present moment that we are called to rejoice. Not the present moment we may want or wish for. But this one.
For joy is always there, if we have eyes to see it. Ears to hear it. Hands to grasp it. Hearts to treasure it.
My friends, today is the day in which we each receive our own gratitude journal. The day in which we are invited to note what brings us joy.
And to give thanks.
From hearts that are full. And hearts that are broken.
From hearts that are heavy. And hearts that are racing.
From hearts that are cynical. And hearts that are bursting.
To the God who became flesh. Who shares in our joys and in our sorrows. Who is the Good News we rejoice in this day.
May God be Praised
Video recordings of the Sunday evening Mass, where Fr. Brian regularly preaches, are available on Facebook at Delaware Koinonia. The archive of all of Fr. Brian’s homilies can be found here: Salesian Sermons
IMAGE ATTRIBUTION: John Baptizing Jesus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56384 [retrieved January 2, 2025]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Painted_Religious_Motifs_on_Facade_of_I_Yesus_Church_-_Axum_(Aksum)_-_Ethiopia_-_02_(8701117241).jpg.
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