Dear Friends, we are concluding our journey through Advent this next week and awaiting with joy all the ways that our brother Jesus chooses to come into our lives beginning with Christmas and on through our life times. Our faith calls us to be aware and to see all the opportunities to come to know Jesus better through all those who come into our lives–because, you see, he is there if we can “see” more with our hearts instead of only with our heads. We will gather on Christmas Eve for a Zoom Mass and details of that will come next week. Hopefully, many of you reading this can join us–everyone is welcome whether you are a regular member or not! Wishing you all the best gifts of this Season–peace, love and joy! Please be in touch if I can help in any way–by phone, 507-429-3616 or by email, aaorcc2008@gmail.com. My gratitude to each of you, Pastor Kathy

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Entrance Antiphon

Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior.

Let Us Pray

Opening Prayer

All-powerful God, your eternal Word took flesh on our earth when Mary placed her life at the service of your plan. Lift our minds in watchful hope to hear the voice which announces his glory and open our minds to receive the Spirit who prepares us for his coming. We ask this through Jesus the Christ, who lives and loves us, forever and ever— Amen.

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Readings:

• 2 Samuel 7: 1-5,8-11,16
• Romans 16: 25-27
• Luke 1: 26-38

    My friends, we have come to the last Sunday and week of the Advent Season as we await in memory that first coming of our brother and friend—Jesus, the Christ into our human existence.

   The point of the Scriptures today seems to be to “root” our friend and brother—Jesus, clearly into the history of the Israelite people—through the family of David, a shepherd.  The other piece to remember as we read today’s Scriptures is that this “rooting” in Old Testament times was seen to have happened through the male line, thus we have the addition in today’s gospel reading from Luke that mentions the fact that Mary is engaged to Joseph who is of the “house of David,” even though, if we believe the entire story laid out in this gospel reference; Joseph will have nothing to do with Jesus’ conception or ultimate humanity where genetics are concerned. 

   The piece that the text does not mention is the fact that Mary is of the house of David too; but at this time, women weren’t seen as contributing anything to a birth except as a receptacle for growth, thus the omission of this significant aspect. 

   Unfortunately, this misguided notion, that genetically, women played no part in determining their offspring prevailed well into the 19^th Century, probably because the science wasn’t yet there to call a lie to this fallacy even though most people could see the likenesses of women in their children. And if truth be told, the patriarchy that prevailed in Church and State for far too long helped to hold these ideas in place.

   But, by 1854, it was realized that women did play a significant part in the creation of children, thus, Pius IX found it necessary to establish the dogma of the Immaculate Conception which states that Mary, the mother of Jesus was conceived without the stain of original sin, so as to make her, in their eyes, a “perfect” receptacle for the Messiah.  

   Now, that seems all nice and tidy—right?  Wrong!  You see, the very definition of humanity includes the fact that we are not yet perfect, therefore, if Mary was without sin at birth and ever after, then she wasn’t human and couldn’t give that component to Jesus, who as God simply wanted to be one-with-us, perfect or not. 

   Again, unfortunately; we see the Church, in its hierarchy, trying to move our God, far away—on a pedestal, out of sight and certainly not a part of our everyday, messy, at times, lives.  I always think of Paul’s wonderful letter to the Philippians, chapter 2 where he says of Jesus, “His state was divine, but he did not cling to it, but became as all of us are…”  Now, that doesn’t sound like a God who wanted to come into a perfect existence, but rather one of possibilities. 

   We see this same problem of humans not getting it right in the first reading from Samuel today.  David, whom we know started his life as a shepherd boy, the youngest of Jesse’s 8 sons, the most unlikely pick for king, was in fact, the one, chosen; not because he was perfect, but because God saw his potential if he was given the chance. 

   David, like us, had to learn as he moved through his life.  The Scripture selection chosen today includes David’s concern that a temple be built to house the Ark of the Covenant.  In David’s mind, God needed a temple because he—David lived so lavishly that it only seemed fitting that God “be housed” in like manner. We see that God doesn’t address David’s concern, because what God wants is that David would become a good king who truly cared for his people. 

   This theme of being a “good leader”—someone who basically says, “Yes” to God and then proceeds on, not always knowing at the outset what the “yes” will mean, follows through each of today’s readings culminating in Mary’s “yes” in Luke’s gospel to give birth to the Messiah. 

   The “glory,” we see comes not through power and wealth amassed, but through the person called; David-Mary-Jesus and us! 

   The Advent and Christmas-time Scriptures always include the fact that Jesus, our Savior, mentor and friend comes for the poor and he shows this by his own birth in Bethlehem, in a stable with shepherds among his first visitors. A good time to remember that David began as a shepherd too! 

   So, what am I saying—that we must all be shepherds? No! But what we must be about is simplicity in our lives.  We must be about truth—and about more than amassing wealth and status.  Jesus came simply into our existence to show us the face of God in human form so that we could then go out and do likewise. 

   If we get lost in the material, forgetting the love as my mother-in-law, Margaret was fond of saying, then; we will never be able to see the face of God in others!

   I spent time at the beginning of this homily trying to set the story straight where women are concerned in the whole of Salvation History, because this is part of the truth of why Jesus came.  He came for each of us, to lift up our humanity, basically saying, by his presence in it, that, “It is good!” 

   Our task then, as his followers, is to continue this good work, saying by our own actions of inclusion, justice, mercy and love, that we, in fact—get it! We understand that the heart, which is wiser than the head, is what it is all about, as we face every day life and people. 

   So, my friends, this Christmas-time, let us be about love, not judgment, not rule-keeping, and not about the cross in our “rear-view mirrors,” not worshipping God in the too small boxes that have been given us, but widening our view, “opening some windows,” and thus, seeing through hearts that can include all! Amen? Amen!

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Prayers of the Faithful

Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

1. O God, as we complete our Advent waiting—help us to remember what a gift you have given us in Jesus entering into our humanity, we pray—Response:  “Come, Jesus, Come.”

• O God, may the wisdom and grace of the Spirit overshadow all the newly elected to be people who will truly work to care for the least among us and strive to bring peace to our country—uniting us under this common purpose, we pray—Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

• Loving God, give each of us health of body, mind, and spirit–especially those struggling with COVID at this time—give each one your strength and wonderful gift of peace, we pray—Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

• For those in our midst who have less than the basics of life, help each of us O God, to be challenged to do what we can to make a difference in their lives, we pray—Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

• O God, as we come to the end of a year and look forward to a new one with new beginnings, let us strive to be people of peace, not war—help us to remember that Jesus has glorified our humanity by his presence in it and help us to treat people and our world accordingly,  we pray—Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

 6.  Loving God, be the strength for what each of us most needs in life, we pray—Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

• For our community, All Are One, give us welcoming hearts to be open to all who come to us; give us patience to be the people you want us to be, we pray—Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

• Loving Jesus, be with all families who have lost loved ones this week, from COVID and all other causes—give them your peace, that they may find their way through their grief, we pray—Response:  “Come, Jesus, Come.”

***Let us pray for the silent petitions on our hearts and for those of others—then response

Let Us Pray

Loving God, fill each of us with your goodness—goodness that can see beyond our own needs to the needs of others. As we prepare for your wonderful coming among us, let us hearts always to be open to new ideas, ways we haven’t thought of yet to make our world better. As you came simply into our world, help us to search out ways to live more simply in order that we can be good stewards of our planet. Surround us constantly with your love and mercy and help us to respond to our world through these same gifts. We ask all of this of you, Creator, Savior, Spirit, God, living with us and loving us forever and ever, Amen.

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Let Us Pray—Again, we won’t be together in person, but through our hearts, remembering that Jesus is always with us!

Prayer of Communion

O Jesus, as Christmas draws near make us grow in faith and love to celebrate your coming, you who have graced our humanity by entering into it. We ask this in your holy name—Amen. 

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Dear Friends,

Again this week, we won’t be meeting “in person”–the best we have been able to do in this time of pandemic is the monthly, or so, Zoom Mass with our next one being, Christmas Eve. But for now, we are to Gaudete Sunday, part-way through this season of mounting joy as we await the coming of our brother Jesus, who, as my friend, Fr. Jim Callan of Spiritus Christi Parish in Rochester, NY is fond of saying, “is coming and coming and coming throughout history.” If we were to reflect on nothing more than this for the entirety of Advent, that our God is coming and wants to continually come into our lives, we would have ample to think on…

All the readings for this Sunday of Rejoicing (definition of Gaudete), reflect this sense of joy. May each of you, as you prepare for this wonderful feast of Christmastime know the joy that only our God can bring! Notice that I said, “Christmastime,” as we celebrate officially for 12 days, but every day is really “Christmas” from a certain standpoint, because what this feast is really all about is the over-the-top love of our God for each of us and that is something we can celebrate all year long!

My continual prayer for each of you is that you would stay safe and well in this time of pandemic as we await the vaccines. Please continue to mask and social distance as it will take some time to get everyone the vaccines that they need. If I can help you in any way, please do not hesitate to be in contact, by phone, 507-429-3616, or by email, aaorcc2008@gmail.com. –Pastor Kathy

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Entrance Antiphon

Rejoice always in our God—let us say it again—Rejoice! God is near!

Let Us Pray

Opening Prayer

Creator God of Jesus, the Christ, ever faithful to your promises and ever close to your Church:  the earth rejoices in hope of the Savior’s coming and looks forward with longing to his return at the end of time.  Prepare our hearts and remove the sadness that hinders us from feeling the joy and hope which his presence will give us for he is our brother and friend, forever and ever—Amen.

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Readings:

• Isaiah 61: 1-2, 10-11
• 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24
• John 1: 6-8, 19-28

Homily

My friends, the Latin word, “Gaudete” means, rejoice.  Throughout this Advent Season; we have been on the cusp of rejoicing and with this Sunday; we are given full permission to do just that! The whole of Advent reflects on the mounting joy that we as a people should come to with the realization that our God loves us enough to want to be, “one-with-us”, Emmanuel. 

   All of our readings for this Sunday speak of this joy as we come to fully see this truth that our God wants nothing more than to be among us, showing us the way, through Jesus, to be our best selves, sharing with all our sisters and brothers who inhabit this beautiful earth with us. 

   The prophet Isaiah proclaims that this loving God will be present—visible, that is, first, to the poor.  God will show mercy to the “broken-hearted” and “liberation to those in prison.”  Jesus, the most perfect manifestation of this merciful God thought this prophecy of Isaiah was so important that he announced the beginning of his ministry in his hometown of Nazareth in the synagogue by quoting this very prophecy of Isaiah. 

   Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians continues Isaiah’s prophecy; in effect, telling us how we should be in the world by encouraging us to, “accept only what is good” and “avoid any semblance of evil.” He concludes his instruction with a blessing; “May the God of peace make you whole.”

   We move to John’s gospel this week for a clearer picture of just who the Baptist, also, by name of John, truly was.  John the Baptist names the One to come after him, “the strap of whose sandal he is not worthy to loose, ‘the Light.’”  And in these times of darkness from a virus within, taking thousands of lives daily in our country and around our world, to viruses without; racism, sexism, clericalism—to name but a few; when did we ever need, “light” more?

   John the Baptist is said to be, “a voice crying in the wilderness—make straight our God’s road.”  The image of someone, “crying in the wilderness,” is a most poignant one for me at present due to a situation that I encountered recently of which I will speak to in a general way. 

   Probably all of us during this troubling year—2020, that has included COVID 19 and separation from family and friends in order to keep us all safe, racial unrest—precipitated anew with the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day, and a most contentious presidential election, have been part of discussions with family and friends over these issues.  I believe there is a great divide in our country over these topics, to the point that family members and friends have at times been unable to even talk with each other due to an impasse around these issues. 

   Probably the most egregious aspect, in my mind, in these impasses has been the fact that our president has stoked the flames of unrest rather than try to bring about peace. 

   I raise this issue today because recently I found myself thrown into a discussion with people that I have considered friends who were unable or unwilling to discuss a “bombshell” dropped on us by one within our group of friends concerning how we should see, “the absolute fraud” of our recent presidential election.  And what made this so difficult was the passion of the person trying to claim, what in my mind is pure fanaticism which has been rejected across this country in court after court as baseless. 

   And what makes a situation like this so hard to deal with is the fact that groups wanting to remain intact will refuse to express any truth to the contrary in order to “save the group” from imploding upon itself.  I have in fact done this in the past—said nothing, in order to, “protect the group,” but this time I felt a need to speak against the message being laid upon us for the reasons I expressed above.  I felt like John, “as one crying in the wilderness.”  And the equally sad part, as I reflect on this, is that this person most likely feels that they are too, “crying in the wilderness.” 

   One of the side effects of telling lies—something our president has been found guilty of in almost every day of his 4-year presidency is that there are people, too many people, who for whatever reason, believe him and will go to any lengths to support him as is apparent in his and their protracted appeals to have the election overturned in his favor. 

   As David Brooks, a traditionally conservative columnist for the Washington Post spoke of it recently, and I paraphrase; there is no talking to such individuals—I have tried—they are emotionally entrenched and logic and facts will not dissuade them.  One just has to let them eventually see it, if they can.

   So where does that leave someone who is trying to follow Jesus who encourages us to see, “the face of God” in all that we meet?  I must say that it leaves me most perplexed and I can only ask Jesus to show me his “light” to adequately find my way through. 

   Perhaps some “light” for me and others comes in Paul’s words today to the Thessalonians, “Accept only what is good,” “avoiding any semblance of evil.” In my position as a pastor, writing to you to hopefully, “spiritually uplift, and to challenge,” I struggle to remain non-partisan and the only way that I can teach, as it were, is to repeat what Jesus said so often, “Check the fruits.” 

   If your action or the actions of others bring peace—for the most part, a willingness to care for others beyond oneself, and a sense of overall, well-being; I believe we can name that as, “good.” If not, then perhaps, we are not, “avoiding any semblance of evil.”

   So my friends, my apology to each of you for reflecting out loud in this homily, but I thought that perhaps there was value for you as well. In conclusion; I think it is a good reminder that Jesus’ entire ministry was about bringing life and life to its fullness.  And once again, Paul’s blessing, in that light, rings true—“May the God of peace make [us] whole.”   Amen? Amen!

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Prayers of the Faithful

Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

1. O God, bless our Advent waiting—help us to prepare simply for your coming among us and share abundantly your gift of love with others, we pray—Response:  “Come, Jesus, Come.”

• O God, may the wisdom and grace of the Spirit overshadow all elected leaders to be people who will truly work to care for the least among us and strive to bring peace to our world, we pray—Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

• Loving God, give each of us health of body, mind and spirit–especially help those struggling in any way today—give each one your strength and wonderful gift of peace, we pray—Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

• For those in our community who have less than the basics of life, help each of us O God, to be challenged to do what we can to make a difference in their lives, we pray—Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

• O God, as we come to the end of a year and look forward to a new one with new beginnings, let us strive to be people of peace, not war—help us to turn some ways of thinking on “their heads,” we pray—    Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

 6.  Loving God, be the strength for what each of us most needs in life, we pray—Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

• For our community, All Are One, give us welcoming hearts to be open to all who come to us, we pray—Response: “Come, Jesus, Come.”

• Loving Jesus, be with all families who have lost loved ones this week from COVID and all other causes—give them your peace, that they may find their way through their grief, we pray—Response:  “Come, Jesus, Come.”

9. Loving Jesus, in this Season of Love, unite hearts in our country around all that is good and true—help us to heal broken hearts by speaking truth to power, we pray—

    Response:  “Come, Jesus, Come.”

***Let us pray for the silent petitions on our hearts and for each other—pause, then response

Let Us Pray

Loving God, fill each of us with your goodness—goodness that can see beyond our own needs to the needs of others. As we prepare for your wonderful coming among us, let our hearts always to be open to new ideas, ways we haven’t thought of yet to make our world better. As you came simply into our world, help us to search out ways to live more simply in order that we can be good stewards of our planet. Surround us constantly with you love and mercy and help us to respond to our world through these same gifts. We ask all of this of you, Creator, Savior, Spirit, God, who lives and loves us forever and ever, Amen.

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Let Us Pray—Again, we can’t be physically present to each other, nor receive the bread of the altar, but please know that Jesus is with us—each one, each and every day!

Prayer of Communion

God of wonderful mercy, may your divine help, free us from all that clutters our way to you.  Prepare us for the birthday of our Savior who lives among us, always and forever—Amen. 

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