The Third Sunday of Advent
Thoughts from Fr. Ryan
The people were filled with expectation...
The modern world is all about right now. As Burger King says, “My Way, Right Away.” And while that’s very nice when it comes to getting some laundry pods from Amazon or watching a movie on Netflix, it has some real psychological side-effects.
For one, anticipation is important for us as human beings. In many cases, anticipation is actually more rewarding and exciting than the thing itself. Psychiatric research shows that the brain hormones associated with happiness, contentment, and what we would call positive feelings (dopamine, endorphins, serotonin) are released by anticipation of something pleasant as much so or even more so than they are by the pleasant thing itself.
We all know this instinctively. How often is the process of buying a present for someone and thinking about how much they’re going to be excited to receive it better than the actual unwrapping? How often is it more exciting and more fun to imagine some activity (like a family vacation) than it is to live through it?!? Certainly anticipation isn’t always better than the thing itself, but anticipation always makes the whole event better.
When we don’t allow anticipation to build, we miss out on a lot of pleasure and we deprive ourselves of the potential impact of the event itself.
When we apply this to something like a family vacation or a present at Christmas, it’s just a minor thing - an opportunity lost. But when we apply this thinking to something that matters spiritually... like celebrating a feast day - we short circuit something that God has very deliberately given us as a mechanism for holiness.
Christmas is meant to be the culmination of a month of anticipation... Every year, we’re meant to wait on Christmas so that we can spend the other 11 months waiting on the Second Coming of Jesus. Anticipation in this way is understood as a spiritual and psychological skill. But our modern Holiday culture sees Christmas more as the end of a month of non-stop feasting. Most of us are ready for a break by the time Christmas arrives...
It’s not my aim merely to bemoan something that most of us can’t control. Rather, I want to make clear that we need to recognize that we’re being robbed of this month of practicing the skill of anticipation and make sure we’re making every effort to practice this all-important spiritual and psychological skill elsewhere. We need to take the opportunity when we can not to have things our way right away. We need to choose that which is slower, less convenient, and less accommodating.
Thankfully, health science is making excellent strides in identifying the value of choosing to do unpleasant things and in various ways for us to do them... There are cold plunges, saunas, and “eating windows” for those excited by the new and trendy and there’s good old cardio exercise and fasting for the more traditional types. Prayer is all-too-often tedious and difficult as well, which shouldn’t turn us off it. Quite to contrary, difficult is good and necessary for us human beings to thrive!
Rose, not Pink
The practice of Catholic priests wearing Rose vestments on the Third Sunday of Advent is both symbolic and historical.
The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally called "Gaudete" Sunday, which comes from the Latin words of the Entrance Antiphon and which means "rejoice." Advent isn’t Lent and so it isn’t a season of Penance, but it is meant to be marked by sobriety and anticipation. By definition, both of those things are deprivations. And deprivation takes a toll. The violet vestments are darker and more somber than the white, red, and green vestments that we’re used to the rest of the year.
The rose color is lighter and more associated with celebration than the violet. It’s also something quite different than we see at any other time of year. This is meant as a visual cue that we are doing something different on this Sunday. We’re not ending our anticipation, but we’re shifting it from waiting for the Second Coming of Jesus to thinking about the far lighter and more easy-to-smile-at First Coming of Jesus at Christmas.
The Rose vestment mark a lightening of the mood and theological shift in focus. They’re jarring because we only get them out twice a year. And they’re pretty.
Traditionally, these Rose vestments weren’t just a specific shade of pink (yes, I know my vestments are a salmon-pink!), they were embroidered with hundreds of flowers on them in overlapping patterns. Some communities actually made the whole vestment from flowers (like a child weaves a wreath of flowers in the Springtime) and so the vestment felt like something truly special and rose-like.
Nowadays, in our very practical culture, many don’t see why a priest would spend hundreds of dollars for a vestment that only gets worn on two Sundays of the year...
I love this little tradition, though. It reminds me that what we do here isn’t meant to be 100% practical and it reinforces for me that not all symbolism has to be immediately obvious. Some meaning has to be sought after and thought about!
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotations from Sir Francis Bacon. He’s talking books, but it applies to symbols and liturgies as well:
“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”
From the Saints
“Joy is the happiness of love – love aware of its own inner happiness. Pleasure comes from without, and joy comes from within, and it is, therefore, within reach of everyone in the world.” – Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
“If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them. They are not a sort of prize which God could, if he chose, just hand out to anyone.” - C.S. Lewis
Mass Intentions for the Coming Week
- Sat 5:30p In memory of Payton and Donald Trichell/family
- Sun 9:30a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased Members of our Parish
- Mon 9:00a In memory of Carol Folk LaHitte/P Lancaster
- Tue NO MASS
- Wed 9:00a In memory of Gail Gilfoil Gnaugard/Nettles family
- Thu 9:00a In memory of Mary Ernst (death)/family at Legacy
- Fri 5:30p In memory of J E “Boyzie” Jumonville (birth)/family
- Sat 5:30p In memory of Pat Bullard, Patrick Thomas, Eva and R L Reynolds/family
- Sun 9:30a Pro Populo for the Living & Dead members of our Parish Family
ALTAR CANDLES this week are burning for the special intentions of Margo Corulla
Assistants at Holy Mass
| Date | Servers | Lector(s) | EMHCs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12/14 5:30p | None Scheduled | P Wilks | L Magoun |
| 12/15 9:30a | Mary Katherine & Courtland | Youth-Michael M | - |
| 12/21 5:30p | None Scheduled | A Keene | M Rome |
| 12/22 9:30a | Michael M, Maura, Cooper | J Howington | - |
Stewardship Today’s Gospel provides a blueprint for good stewardship: “Let the man who has two coats give to him who has none. The man who has food should do the same.”
Our Return to the Lord
| Weekly Budget FY 2023-2024 | $ 2,111 |
| Novembeer Budget | $ 8,444 |
| November Income | $ 9,187 |
| November Expenses | $ 11,235 |
| December Budget | $ 10,555 |
| December 8 Collection | $ 2,836 |
| December Income To Date | $ 4,247 |
Upcoming Events
Confessions every Friday & Saturday from 5p until Mass and on Sunday from 9a until Mass
Sunday Catechism with Coffee and Donuts after Mass unless otherwise indicated
Wednesday Morning Catechism about 9:30 a.m in Church and on Facebook and YouTube
Pastoral Council meeting monthly on the third Wednesday at 6p
Dec 15 Birthday Party for Jesus following Sunday Mass
Dec 15 Adult Christmas Party in the Church Hall beginning at 6 p.m.
For Your Information:
THIS WEEKEND
Our BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR JESUS is in the parish Hall immediately after Mass this Sunday, December 15. All are welcome to attend! Kendra Collins and Dana Hamilton are giving leadership to the event for our children.
Note that we will not have Sunday Morning Catechism this weekend.
Our ADULT CHRISTMAS PARTY will be held in the Church Hall this Sunday at 6 p.m. for adult members of our Faith Family and their guests. All attendees must be over the age of 18. Adult Beverages will be provided and parishioners are encouraged to provide chips and dips and other finger foods. Shannon Wood and Stephenie Marsh have given leadership to this event.
2025 STEWARDSHIP ENVELOPES….There is a list at the entrance of church to sign up if you would like to have a box of stewardship envelopes for 2025.
NEXT WEEKEND
Our CHRISTMAS EVE schedule is similar to last year. Mass will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 24. We will not have confessions available before Mass. We will have Christmas Carols from about 5:00 p.m. Seating usually becomes tight by the time Mass has begun, so please consider arriving early to pray and enjoy the caroling.
On CHRISTMAS DAY Father Ryan will offer two Masses.
Mass in English will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Christmas Day. We will not have any gathering, catechesis, or donuts on Christmas Day.
Mass in Latin will begin around 10:30 a.m. and will be a “Low Mass.” For those unfamiliar with the Latin Mass, booklets will be available and Father’s sermon will most certainly be in English.
Daily Masses for the rest of the week will remain as usual.
Our MAUSOLEUM project is now underway. We are in the pre-sales phase where those who are interested in any way are asked to give us your name and mailing address so that the company can judge if there is sufficient interest to complete the project and so that they can send preliminary information. (Signing up is not an obligation to buy.) If you would like to sign up, you can do so at any Mass or by contacting us via email at the address listed on the inside page of the bulletin. Thanks!
ROSARY GROUP… a group of parishioners is meeting on Monday at 5:30 p.m. to pray the Rosary. Everyone is invited to join the group. If you need additional information, please contact the Coordinator, Louise Magoun, at 318-341-2403.
FORMED.ORG… has an entire page of weekly featured videos that are worth checking out at https://watch.formed.org/this-week-on-formed. Remember to sign in using our parish’s zip code (71282) at http://signup.formed.org
FLOWER FUND… envelopes can be found on the table at the entrance of church for you to make donations to the fund for poinsettias and other decorations for the Advent and Christmas season. Or, you can use a plain envelope for cash or a check with “Flowers” in the memo area and put those in the collection basket.
2025 CALENDARS… are on the table at the entrance. We have enough for each family to have more than one if you like. (hint…it is handy to have one at home and one at work to be reminded of church special dates!)
VICKSBURG CATHOLIC MOMS GROUP - Celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas!" Please join us Sunday December 15th at 530 pm in St. Paul's Glynn Hall. We will have food, catechesis, and fellowship! RSVP to vicksburgcatholicmomsgroup@gmail.com.
Let us Rejoice in the Lord!
Happy Birthday Johnny Gilfoil (Dec 15), Peggy Scurria (Dec 16), Bart Wood (Dec 19), Christy Guizerix (Dec 22)
Happy Anniversary Nap and MaryKathryn Book (Dec 14)
In Our Daily Prayers…
Please let us know of anyone who is ill or hospitalized and would like to receive a visit from Father. Also, help us keep our prayer list up to date by advising us of those who should be added or removed.
Our Pope, Francis; our Bishop, Robert Marshall; and our Diocesan leaders, our President, Governor, Mayor and national, state and local elected representatives
Our parishioners who are sick, shut-in, under full-time care and for those who care for them, and for those otherwise in need of our prayers: MaryKathryn & Nap Book, Connie & Dan Copes, Elizabeth Crothers, Leslye Ellerbee, Susan & Johnny Gilfoil, Margaret & Pat Gilfoil,Terry Farlow Hall, C.W. & Alyce Keene, Frances & Bill Kennedy, Ed Mills, Susie Murphy, Bobby Reynolds, Mike & Sue Rome, Kenny and Betty Smith
Our friends and relatives who need our prayers: Lee Adams (Smith), Ashley Alexander (Regan), Graham Allen (S Gilfoil), Kathryn Wood Allsopp (D Wood), Pam Amacker (Gilfoil), Marie Farlow Bellard, Tommy Bickham (C Copes), Nap and Martha Book, Kay Boolos (S Gilfoil), Dick & Sue Boyd (S Gilfoil), Chris Breard (Gilfoil), Sarah Cannon (Gilfoil), Fran Castile (Keene), Jeannie & Donald Collins, Teresa Carney Condra, Jami Cook (Wilks), Bobbe & Gene Cox, Marla Evans Cummings, Carol Dipert (Rome), Mac Donaldson (Ellerbee), Mike Farlow, Patty Farlow, Monique Florence, Jimmy Fordham (Gustafson & Fordice), Judy Fortenberry, April Franklin (Wilks), Fred and Cathy Fulton, Thom Gilfoil, Wyly Gilfoil (Gilfoil), LaVonne Givens, Charlotte Green, Theresa Gunter, Rita Hargrave, Ralph Harris (Gilfoil), Arlice Evans Headley, Evie Hilburn (Lancaster), Charles Howington, Will Irby (P Gilfoil), Diane Johnson, Carla Leese (S Gilfoil), Lynn Lisonbee, LaLa Lopez (Hernandez), Caroline Marcello (Watts), Ruth McDonald (Copes), Michelle McGuire(Gilfoil), Kiely McKellar (S Gilfoil), Mona Martin (MA Gilfoil), Boyce Miller, Randy Parker, John Neill, Wayne Pitre (Gilfoil), Bailey, Scott and Tiffney Rome, Dianne Roper (Murphy), Janie Saxon (Lancaster), Debbie Kedrick Sims, Tommy Trichell, LeeAnn Rome Tranchina (Rome), Randy Watts, Jr.
Our collegiates: Aidan Collins, Preston Collins, Henry Ellerbee, Lilly Falgout, Jag Gilfoil, Bruen Johnson, Matilda Johnson, Caroline Marsh, Charlize Richardson, Blake Sullivan, Carter Sullivan, Walker Sullivan, Chandler Wood, Marsh Wood
