St James Catholic Church

Halfway through this season of Advent preparation   we celebrate Gaudete Sunday, this third Sunday of joy and gladness. With eager anticipation we prepare     our hearts for Christ as we prepare our homes for Christmas. Recalling that Mary and Joseph could not find a proper place for Mary to give birth to our Savior, we commit to preparing a proper place to receive our Lord anew into our lives.

In our Gospel, John the Baptist finds himself in prison. He is wondering and questioning if Jesus is the one who is to come. What happened to the unborn child who layed in the womb of Elizabeth when Mary visited her? What happened to his memory of the Holy Spirit coming down like a dove when he baptized Jesus? Perhaps the wall of Herod’s prison acted like a barrier to his deeper vision. Had God abandoned him? “Go tell John the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have the Gospel preached to them.”  To emphasize the special role that John had, Jesus said of him, “None greater than John the Baptist is born of woman.” But he goes on to say, “Yet the last born in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” That’s us. May we ready ourselves to see the same wonders the Lord can do in our midst.

Love, Peace, Joy,

Fr. Bob

Monday, December 12, is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. She has special significance to our Latino brothers and sisters. Take time to research and pray about the wonders of Mary’s appearance to St. Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill outside of Mexico City.