"Rejoice in the Good News" - 3rd Sunday of Advent Homily

The third Sunday of Advent is a little different.

It's Gaudete Sunday, which means to rejoice.

We hear all kinds of mention of rejoicing and gladness and good news in the readings.

We lighten up the colors of the vestments, bring in some of the white of Christmas that remind us we're getting close.

We're getting close to celebrating the festivities in full of the Lord's coming

mutual rejoicing between God and us.

It's an awesome thing.

Reason to celebrate, to be filled with gladness.

And John preached this to the people.

He preached good news to them that you're close.

It's coming.

They thought he was the Christ.

And he said, no, there's one coming after me.

So they were close.

And he's preaching that good news that the time the prophets foretold is coming.

That hundreds and hundreds of years, people waited for the time in which we live.

We should celebrate good news constantly as Christians.

We live in the era of the Christ, the Messianic age.

And I can preach this good news to you every week specifically.

The good news I have for you today.

When we have good news, it's like a good joke.

We can't wait to tell it.

And so we have good news with specifics.

You've been hearing in the news about pardons.

That's the good news, folks.

We offer pardons in our church.

Full pardons regularly.

Someone said to the other day, you have the greatest job in the world.

I said, I do.

I'm in the pardon business.

I'm in the business of mercy.

And people here take up the Lord on this offer regularly.

It's a great offer.

We have a communal service Tuesday night, mainly for Advent, a penance service, where Father Vincent and I will be offering full pardons.

It can cover your whole life.

Pardon for sins, at least since your last confession.

Now the whole country is talking about the pardons and the sins and this and that and the forgiveness.

That's like public confession.

It's private here.

And with the penance service, there are normally long lines, so it's just a few minutes of embarrassment, like kind of make it quicker than usual.

The priests.

We don't normally remember the sins confessed, because we hear so many confessions.

God always forgets what's been forgiven.

He forgives and forgets.

And He wills us to confess, certainly to get right with Him.

I know we do that at the beginning of Mass.

And some people think that's confession.

I confess to Almighty God.

Good try.

For smaller sins, venial sins, you know like with a friend, small stuff, you don't have to confess like every last thing, but if it's a big thing, you got to go to him or her and

tell them what happened.

You got to own it, confess it, get it off your heart to them.

And then when they forgive you, it's forgiven.

It's done.

And think of the rejoicing you share after that.

Like the relationship is stronger.

as a result.

So the same with God.

That when we confess to Him, and for confession it's major stuff is reserved for confession, mortal sins.

When we confess it, we give it to Him, and what do we hear that we're forgiven?

That hearing we're forgiven is a big healing part of it.

It's very therapeutic to hear that we're forgiven, so that our hearts themselves can be healed and move on and rejoice.

That full pardon He offers us.

At the same time we're getting this pardon, we're fulfilling the scriptures from last week of lowering the mountains of pride,

and filling the valley of humility.

Like those two at once.

So like Michael Scott would say, it's win, win, win.

All kinds of winning, all kinds of rejoicing.

That John preached This is the good news, John preached This is what he said is coming.

Not me.

I don't have the power.

The one coming after me does.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of sins.

God always rejoices over you with gladness, but especially with an eye on Christ, especially when we honor His Son and the whole mission that was foretold for hundreds of

years.

that God rejoices in us when we honor His Son.

In His birth, in His life, in His death, He gave His life for the pardon of our sins.