The crowds asked John the Baptist,
“What should we do?”
He said to them in reply,
“Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him,
“Teacher, what should we do?”
He answered them,
“Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.”
Soldiers also asked him,
“And what is it that we should do?”
He told them,
“Do not practice extortion,
do not falsely accuse anyone,
and be satisfied with your wages.”
Now the people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying,
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor
and to gather the wheat into his barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Exhorting them in many other ways,
he preached good news to the people.
Pleasant Gaudete Sunday to all.
The acoustics in that Cathedral! The sound lingers … it’s Holy.
Beautiful voices lifted higher because of them. Yes.
Thanks be to God!
Thank you for the wonderful content that you shared day by day. God bless you and yours during this beautiful season of anticipation of Jesus’s birthday! Shalom in.Yeshua ❤️❤️❤️
Lord God we need you! ❤️
from the Collects, for the third Sunday in Advent:
” O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee; grant that the ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at thy second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight, who livest and reignest with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.”
A link to the Lectionary Central for the Third Sunday in Advent which includes the Collect, Gospels, Epistles and sermons from both medieval to modern day for this Sunday:
https://www.lectionarycentral.com/advent3/advent3.html
Happy Third Sunday of Advent.
Heavenly Father,
This third week of Advent, let us remember that the good news of Jesus’ birth has the power to bring us great joy this Christmas season. Our joy isn’t dependent on what is going on in our life, in our world, or the people that we are with. It doesn’t depend on the gifts we give or the gifts we find under the tree. No earthly thing can ever give us complete joy. Our joy comes from you. That joy that flooded the hearts of the shepherds, the angels, the wise men, the hosts of heaven, and Mary and Joseph is the joy that still has the power to overwhelm our hearts with rejoicing.
Menagerie,
Blessings on you and yours through this most precious season that is the blessing of God’s Holy Spirit placed into our hearts Eternally. Through that human baby’s birth our Savior was born and He Lived, Suffered, and Died for us only to RISE AGAIN and give us the path to Eternal Salvation. What a Gift!
The verse for this morning read the following:
“Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise.”
There is a woman on the NextDoor app who I have seen posting frequently in our neighborhood. She has certain personality characteristics I have come to admire… I even thought I might make a new friend with her. They’ve gone through some difficulty medically recently and she commented on our Christmas cookies that I baked and posted about as we had started a thread to identify cool displays of Christmas lights in celebration of the season.
She asked me how much it would cost for her to purchase six of my cookies… she wanted to gift them to her husband because she was too infirm to make them this season. I told her absolutely nothing and that I would be glad to make a box for her to gift to her husband… then, THEN I saw some disparaging remarks about Trump’s appointments and cronyism. It appears she may be on the “left” side of things.
Well, we are not going to get UNITY in the country unless we start building some bridges, so that is exactly what I am going to do today at 12:30 PM. I will meet her and bless her ANYWAY with my handywork and I will PRAY that people tend to emulate those that they are surrounded and influenced by.
People do not come to CHRIST by bat and switch, carrots and sticks. They come by full submission of their hearts and I know how bitter of a lesson it was for me to learn of my support and even participation in the support of the RINO “Uniparty” here in Central Indiana – before I knew what the “uniparty” was and how deeply evil it is. I learned and then I removed myself and then sought to teach others as far as I could what I learned and named names of those who still seek to keep the American public and Central Indiana Hoosiers in bondage.
Thus, I will look on her today in the same way and with the same understanding. One never knows if we are the only BIBLE someone will run into today… maybe the one connection to Christ that heals, mend fences, and develops deeper understanding. We must start somewhere.
May God’s Light continue to shine brightly through you, my friend, as we work in this life to POINT TO CHRIST…Who Truly Is… our ONLY HOPE.
Treepers, my challenge to you this morning is to open your eyes and ears to opportunities to heal and serve… not in politics’ name, but in JESUS’S NAME. Jesus through His Holy Spirit is the Master of Heart and Soul Conversion.
I pray my cookies taste extra sweet and fine in their mouths and may they remove the bitter talk.
Love you all. The Woo girls.
You have made my day. Thank you for sharing your story, and I pray that I will be as compassionate and loving in my daily encounters.
People do not come to CHRIST by bat and switch, carrots and sticks.
Yes. I’ve been concerned for some time about this, to my shame, more in my political thinking. I think our side has often come to want to shut up dissenting voices as much as liberals do. People can’t dialogue and debate anymore. It’s either attack and debase, or seek to remove a counter opinion altogether.
No shame, my friend. We were rightly wounded and in self-preservation, self-protection, do-not-incline-or- bend-to-the-mental-illness protection mode. We are RIGHT to protect ourselves which is why God says that “we are the company we keep”. Proverbs 13:10, Proverbs 1:15, 1 Corinthians 15:33, Psalms 26:4-5
We all need checks and balances – counterbalances – many level heads thinking simultaneously with solid input and risk assessment. Things got looney. Mental illness was triggered, inspired, and grown into obscene proportions… by isolation, manipulation, subterfuge, incitement and divisiveness.
We forgot how to be neighborly and that the biggest testimony to goodness is “Do unto others as you would want done unto you” and “Go out into all the world and make disciples of all nations”.
It is time for us to emerge and tend to the wounded animals out there. They are our fellow people and they are created in God’s Image just as we are. God Help us to love them as You Would. Help them to find You and through finding You, find themselves, and grant them freedom from the clutches of satan’s grip.
This is a Spiritual War and we are at war with the devil; not each other. The devil wants us to fight each other – he likes it. Do not conform to the ways of this world or to the devil’s schemes. We need to direct our righteous anger right where it goes – and lean heavily into our prayers for The Lord’s Vengeance – because HIS WAYS are so much better and more thorough than our own.
To God Be The Glory – Great Things He Hath Done!
Love you, Sis.
I am watching the sickness of our communities trying to recover. Trying to come out of the hiding of COVID, into the Light again. So many terribly fearful people who truly think their “help”comes from their political leaders – people obviously so elevated because of their intelligence, skill, and sight at the 16,000 foot level.
Only when we get to the level playing field that God spoke of in His Word – do we realize that leadership comes from serving our fellow men. Conversion comes from discipline, and discipline comes from repetitive practice and outward displays of our internal commitment.
The only thing we are in control of is ourselves and we can, and should, distance ourselves from those who seek to control others using nefarious means and we should preach FREEDOM THROUGH CHRIST and GOD IS SOVEREIGN ALONE.
This is a wonderful comment, and your first paragraph acknowledges why we’re still inclined to lick our long suffering wounds.
I struggle continuously with the desire to live, exemplify, share, a Christian and loving lifestyle, and the temptation to just completely avoid the rabid hateful crazies; I figure if they’re going to “get it” they will get it on their own, the way Brandon Straka did when he decided to do his own research and be honest about what he learned.
You Woo are a better person than I am.
No… I’m no better, cheering. I’ve lived “wounded” a long time and realized there’s no healing there as long as I’m set looking for someone to blame. Giving evil power over my thoughts and deeds…. is the devils win… and I give that creature every poke in the eye I can! satan is what fills the minds and hearts of these people and they are to be pitied. Unless saved, their hell is forever and ours is fleeting.
Best for me to move on, carry on, and leave the vengeance to The Lord. He knows better than I the condition of man’s heart.
The best revenge is living your best life and trying to grab a few away from satan’s grip when possible.
Awww the woman I met was greatly battered – series of serious surgeries, to “redo” a knee replacement and to fix her most broken back with rods, pins, screws, and braces – just a few months ago in August. I asked if it were from a car accident? She said, it was a very long story, but a history of child abuse involving stairs.
Moved my heart to tears. God love her. I’ve seen her postings; she’s not the type to stay victimized.
She’s a dear, sweet woman, only 59 years old. She recognized that we comment a lot on similar things on NextDoor and she thought, too, she might have a friend in me. We’ve been circling one another from afar.
When we elevate the sanctity of friendship… over differences in opinion… we can encourage and uplift one another and our burdens are lessened. We can REBUILD our communities again.
Best time I’ve spent all day. Now, off to the gym with the teenager… so I can give myself grace to eat a cookie or two myself. Blessings!
Thank you for the “bat and switch carrots and sticks”.
It corrects my approach and mind set addressing state legislators.
I will be asking for a gift of patience, tenacity and the strength to continue clinging to hope.
If you’re addressing legislators…. I pray God moves the Holy Spirit within you with just the right words. They have a heavy responsibility and duty to our people.
Bless you, J. Woo! I’m about to share your comment (via cut and paste) with several friends, mostly from our PCA church. And I love your gray cat; before our current gray-and-white tux Max, we had a pure, darker gray boy, Grayby. PTL we’ll see all our furrbies in Heaven. Why else would the word “animal” mean SOUL? Besides, all of Creation will be redeemed…!
https://cbn.com/devotions/celebrate-third-week-advent
Rejoice!
Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him,
“Teacher, what should we do?”
He answered them,
“Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.”
Anyone at the IRS listening?
Amen!
As Advent unfolds, Catholic churches around the world observe Gaudete Sunday, a liturgical celebration that offers a moment of joy amidst the season of preparation and penance. Marked on the third Sunday of Advent, this day invites the faithful to rejoice in anticipation of the coming of Christ. Derived from the Latin word gaudete (pronounced gow-day-tay) meaning “rejoice,” the day carries a spirit of hope and festivity, distinct from the somber tones that characterize much of the Advent season.
A Shift in Tone
Advent, a season traditionally marked by reflection and restraint, is often likened to Lent. However, Gaudete Sunday provides a momentary reprieve from the penitential mood. The change is symbolized by the rose-colored vestments worn by priests during Mass, replacing the usual purple associated with Advent. Similarly, the third candle of the Advent wreath is also rose-colored, standing out among its purple counterparts.
The shift in tone is rooted in the scriptural readings for the day. The entrance antiphon for Gaudete Sunday begins with words from Philippians 4:4-5: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.” This message of joy is echoed in the readings, which often highlight themes of God’s mercy, the nearness of salvation, and the promise of renewal.
A Tradition of Rejoicing
The origins of Gaudete Sunday date back to the early Church. In the liturgical calendar, the third Sunday of Advent marks the halfway point toward Christmas, making it an appropriate moment to take stock and celebrate the progress of the journey. Historically, the day also allowed for a brief relaxation of the Advent fast, a tradition observed more rigorously in earlier centuries.
Today, many Catholics continue to embrace the joyful spirit of Gaudete Sunday in various ways. Parishes often incorporate special music, decorations, and even social gatherings after Mass. Some families use the day to focus on charitable acts, embodying the joy of giving during the Christmas season.
Relevance in a Modern World
For many, Gaudete Sunday serves as a reminder to find joy and gratitude in the midst of life’s busyness and challenges. “It’s easy to get caught up in the commercial hustle of the holidays,” says Father James O’Connor of St. Mary’s Parish in Chicago. “Gaudete Sunday reminds us to pause and remember the true reason for the season—our faith and the hope it brings.”
Amid the twinkling lights and crowded stores of December, Gaudete Sunday offers Catholics a moment to refocus their hearts. As the Advent wreath burns brighter with its third candle, the message of Gaudete Sunday rings clear: rejoice, for the Lord is near.
In a world often fraught with division and uncertainty, the celebration of Gaudete Sunday stands as a testament to the enduring power of faith, joy, and hope. As Catholics light their rose-colored candles this weekend, they do so with a collective anticipation of the light of Christ, soon to shine brightly on Christmas Day.