Third Sunday of Advent/Our Lady of Guadalupe

 

“The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love.” Zephaniah 3: 17

Today, we celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday.   On this Sunday we are called to rejoice.  Rose vestments are worn to emphasize our joy that Christmas is near, and we also light the rose candle on our Advent wreath.  In the opening prayer we pray, “O God, who see how your people faithfully await the feast of the Lord's Nativity, enable us, we pray, to attain the joys of so great a salvation and to celebrate them always with solemn worship and glad rejoicing. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.”

The Church emphasizes the joy which should be in our hearts over all that the birth of our Savior means for us. The great joy of Christians is to see the day drawing nigh when the Lord will come again in His glory to lead them into His kingdom.

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is superseded by the Third Sunday of Advent liturgy. Yet throughout the world celebrations will be held to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe.  In many places today commemorates the day when Our Lady of Guadalupe first introduced herself as the Mother of God and the mother of all humanity when she appeared on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico in 1531. An indigenous peasant, Juan Diego, saw a glowing figure on the hill. After she had identified herself to him, Our Lady asked that Juan build her a shrine in that same spot, in order for her to show and share her love and compassion with all those who believe.

Afterwards, Juan Diego visited Juan de Zumárraga, who was Archbishop of what is now Mexico City. Zumárraga dismissed him in disbelief and asked that the future Saint provide proof of his story and proof of the Lady’s identity.

Juan Diego returned to the hill and encountered Our Lady again. The Virgin told him to climb to the top of the hill and pick some flowers to present to the Archbishop.  Although it was winter and nothing should have been in bloom, Juan Diego found an abundance of flowers of a type he had never seen before. The Virgin bundled the flowers into Juan's cloak, known as a tilma. When Juan Diego presented the tilma of exotic flowers to Zumárraga, the flowers fell out and he recognized them as Castilian roses, which are not found in Mexico.  What was even more significant, however, was that the tilma had been miraculously imprinted with a colorful image of the Virgin herself.

This day let us focus our entire lives on God’s love for us and all of Creation. God so loved the world that he sent His son into the world to give us new hope, new joy, and the promise of God giving us a second chance.