Third Week of Advent: Hope (Gaudete Sunday)
Centering Thought: “The miracles of God’s providence take place every day.” — St. John Baptist de La Salle
“Hope–it’s a gift from the Holy Spirit.” Saint Paul tells us that hope has a name. Hope is Christ. —Pope Francis
Method of Interior Prayer
First Movement: Remember God’s Presence
Pause for a few minutes to quiet yourself and to remember that God is, even in this very moment, present to you.
- In all of creation, everything around you.
- In your very self, keeping you alive.
- In the midst of those with whom you are praying
- In the Eucharist and in the Word of God
- In you by God’s grace at work in your life.
- In the young and the poor.
Second Movement: Contemplate the Mystery of God’s love at work in the world.
Read today’s Gospel a few times slowly. What word or words especially catch your attention? Listen to what is being said; watch what happens; try to become part of the Mystery; lovingly contemplate Jesus.
- Reflect on the Mystery of God’s love at work in your own life.
- Does today’s Gospel have any relevance to your life?
- How do you try to share the message of this Gospel with those with whom you live and work? With those who have been entrusted to your care?
- If you choose to allow this Scripture passage to come alive in you now, what would you have to change in your life? What are the obstacles to this change?
A Reading from the Gospel of Luke (LK 3:10-18)
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.
Third Movement: Resolve to be open to the Spirit working in and through you.
- Where is the Spirit drawing you to sacrifice yourself today that others might have a happier, fuller, holier and more love-filled life?
- Take a few minutes now to thank God for this time you have spent in prayer and to reoffer yourself, as far as you are able, to the accomplishment of God’s will…God’s plan.
Quotes
“You are the visible face of the invisible Father, of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy: let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified.” (Pope Francis)
“Example makes a much greater impression than words.” (DLS)
Videos and Resources
Advent, The Third Week of Advent
Circular 461: Associated for the Lasallian Mission: An Act of Hope
Bulletin 254: Stories of Hope: Associated for our Lasallian Mission
Lasallian Teacher’s Prayer
You, O Lord,
are my strength, my patience, my light, and my counsel.
It is you who touch the hearts of the children entrusted to my care.
Abandon me not to myself for one moment.
For my own guidance and that of my students,
grant me the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety,
the spirit of a holy fear of you and an ardent zeal to procure your glory.
I unite my efforts to those of Jesus Christ, and I beg the Most Blessed Virgin, Saint Joseph, the Guardian Angels, and Saint John Baptist de La Salle to protect me this day in the performance of my duties. Amen.
(This is a modernization of the prayer that the Christian Brothers prayed before school each day some time after 1850. Although some mistakenly attribute the origin of the prayer to St. John Baptist de La Salle, Brother Gerard Rummery, FSC, a Lasallian scholar, notes it has its genesis in the 18th century Traité des Études by Charles Rollin. The prayer echoes the spirituality of St. de La Salle, who was proclaimed by the Catholic church on May 15, 1950, to be the Patron Saint of Teachers.)