Third Sunday of ADVENT, Dec. 14,2025. Mark “G.” ***My dear friends, today, ISAIAH 35: 1-10 Opens exulting with JOY!! He speaks of the deserts and parched land “Will Exult” and they will bloom with “Abundant flowers singing a joyful song!” Then in our Gospel, Matthew 11:2-5, we have Jesus’ message back to John the Baptist saying, “The blind regain their sight, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the dead are raised.” this is so much happiness that I want to jump up and dance. If these guys wrote “The Night before Christmas” we would all have sugar plums dancing in our heads! Woo-Hoo!!
I have recently heard that Advent is a penitential time, a time for ‘getting right with God’. Now, I absolutely enjoy Reconciliation! I also ‘treasure’ being right with God. But the reason people ‘don’t’ like Confession, is the sin part. Nobody wants to admit that we’re ever wrong (sin) and Confession as a function, gazes backward. **I feel Advent is for looking forward…
Jesus Christ’s whole life, from His grandparents to His Resurrection is constantly ‘Forward Motion’! **Jesus is Joy! For Christians Advent is a season of expectant joy ever moving forward to the birth of our Redeemer!
We begin with Mother Mary who believed the angel, when she was told that, she was and would continue to be favored by God. Her pregnancy was exactly like every other woman’s unto this very day. Her baby formed in her womb, and possibly, from the moment she showed a ‘baby-bump’, she began looking forward to His birth, especially the last month, ADVENT!!
The wise men arrive and proclaim, “Hosannah and Alleluia!” They bestow on Him the name above all names, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. Mary and Joseph listen, as these travelers from distant lands exclaim a future where Jesus will unite all nations, under one banner, returning back to God. We will all believe that we are children of God. ***Christ’s childhood leads onward, ever growing, physically and spiritually. Yet this teenager’s wisdom will amaze Jerusalem’s elders and scholars alike.
Unsung, but critical to Jesus’ path, is beloved Joseph. With a carpenter’s skill and a craftsman’s love for his trade, he reinforces in Jesus, love for creation, flesh, wood and stone. Jesus loves Mary and St. Joseph very much. St. Joseph diligently, but lovingly, helps Jesus to become a man, a protector. One Shabbat after another, Passovers and Yom Kippurs roll on by, forward, until God brings Joseph home.
With one eye on His widowed mother, Mary, and the other on the open road… Jesus has become an incredible man and Son of God. **Jesus now turns his thoughts forward to the mission, which brings us to a wedding at Cana. Jesus is invited, except His ‘plus one’ has become “Plus Twelve”! 🙂 Ten scroungy fishermen, the lowest of all blue-collar, a tax collector and finally, His betrayer, a thief… Good Luck!
The years roll by a little more slowly now. Every day brings new excitement, healings, miracles, more disciples and then… Enemies! **On the last week of His humanity Jesus enters Jerusalem, triumphantly for Passover. Everyone loves their New King David, the Messiah. All is good, up to the last supper. Judas leaves. **The Last Supper is where Jesus lovingly creates Eucharist. From His own flesh and blood, our Eucharist.
Today we move forward, Joyously, Triumphantly, toward the birth of a simple, little child. A child who also looks forward triumphantly, to bringing us ‘home’, our own birth into Salvation!! ***A most Joyous and Triumphant Advent to you all, Mark. please follow Bro BLU on YouTube.
I am Mark Gates, your servant. I currently live with my wife in Peosta, Iowa and have retired. I have spent my whole life as a God-fearing Christian, Mass Lector and cradle Catholic. In 1996 after a Charismatic Conference, My Spirituality ‘Exploded’. The Holy Spirit has since, blessed me with personal revelations and events in times of needed admonishment, teaching or encouragement. Having a personal belief and true affection for The Real Presence of Christ in Eucharist, and also a very sweet, tender, and special relationship with our Holy Spirit, I believe that our world is in dire need of Good News. I want my spirituality to create conversations! I pray that you allow these musings to start your own conversations.
