Since 2019, the Universal Church dedicates the third Sunday of every year to the celebration of the Word of God. This celebration is very apt in Year "A" of the liturgical calendar for two reasons. First, it is at this third weekend of Ordinary Time that the almost serial Gospel Readings from Matthew begin and continue throughout Ordinary Time of the liturgical year. It is also on the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year "A" that Matthew gives us an account of the beginning of the preaching part of the public ministry of Jesus.

During the Season of Advent when we prepared for the coming of Jesus at Christmas, we had two weekends when the Gospel passages focused on the person and mission of John the Baptist, the forebearer of Christ, who came to prepare Israel for the coming of the awaited Messiah. On Christmas Day, the Gospel passage for the Mass during the day, which was taken from the prologue of St. John’s Gospel, took a sudden break at some point to introduce John the Baptist and distinguish him from the Christ whose arrival John prepared Israel for.

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which we celebrate this weekend, brings to an end the Christmas Season. Next weekend we shall return to Ordinary Time when we shall be nourished with Readings for a few weeks before we begin the Season of Lent. The Baptism of the Lord, which signified the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, emphasizes our identity as beloved Children of God, our mission being to share Christ’s light and the transformative power of our own Baptism through which we received adoption into the great family of God and the mandate to live out God’s love and justice in the world, acting as prophets and servants.

The Epiphany of the Lord is traditionally celebrated on January 6, but here in the United States it is moved to the First Sunday of the New Year as it is done in other countries. In the Feast of the Epiphany, we celebrate Jesus revealing Himself, not as a mere “King of the Jews,” but as Savior of the whole world. This is the story of the Magi, noble men who saw His sign and traveled from the east to arrive at His birth place in order to worship Him.

The weekend following Christmas is traditionally celebrated as the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Holy Family of Nazareth. On this feast day of the Family, the Church invites us as we thank God for the blessing and example of the Holy Family in Nazareth. That we express gratitude to God for the family in general, and for our families in particular, to seek to imitate the example of the Holy Family, to pray especially for families that are experiencing difficulties and turbulence and to work to promote family life in our communities. The Readings at Mass this weekend are carefully chosen to project the virtues of family life, virtues we are invited to imitate and so give life to our faith in preparation for the joy we shall have as God’s great family for eternity in the life to come.

One of the most precious gifts gratuitously given to human beings by God is the gift of freewill. So precious is this gift that God Himself respects it. He does not compel us to worship or have a relationship with Him against our will. To each of us, God extends an invitation to a life with Him in the Spirit which is properly entered into through baptism and is then expected to be lived responsibly and faithfully thereafter.

The Entrance Antiphon from which this weekend derives its liturgical name (Gaudete Sunday) invites us repeatedly to rejoice because our salvation is near. Those who wait for the coming of the Savior are exhorted neither to despair nor resort to complacency, for the Savior will arrive soon. Waiting can be at a time when things seem to be getting worse, is sometimes not pleasant, and can cause the faltering of best intentions. This unfortunate scenario was experienced by John the Baptist who had the singular privilege of being the precursor to the coming Messiah.

As we know, the First Sunday of Advent each year always invites us to a reflection on the second coming of Christ and the end of the world. On this Second Sunday of Advent, the Readings customarily introduces to us John the Baptist, the precursor of Christ who always comes with a call to repentance because the Kingdom of God is near. Although very pivotal to the Messiah’s mission, John the Baptist remains one of the most underappreciated figures in salvation history.

Happy New liturgical year and welcome to the holy Season of Advent, the Season during which we prepare ourselves spiritually to commemorate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and to await His promised second coming. “When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for His second coming.” (CCC524). The Readings on this First Sunday of Advent highlight this two-pronged waiting.

As it is customary with the liturgical calendar of the Church, we bring to a successful close the Liturgical Year “C” with the celebration of the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. This Solemnity, also simply referred to as Christ the King, was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 with his encyclical Quas Primas in order to off er the Church’s response to growing secularism and atheism. Pope Pius desired that the world and particularly all Christians remember that while governments come and go, Christ reigns as King forever. During the twentieth century, secularistic regimes threatened not just the Catholic Church and its faithful in countries like Mexico, Russia, and some parts of Europe. Quas Primas assured the despairing Christians that while governments around them crumbled the universal kingship of Christ is destined to endure permanent duration.

We have arrived at the penultimate Sunday to the end of the Liturgical year in the Catholic Church. Next Sunday, we shall end the Liturgical year with the Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King of the Universe. It is worth noting that the First Reading at the liturgy this weekend is taken from the last oracles of the prophet Malachi who interestingly is the last of the Old Testament prophets. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Readings invite us to reflect on the end of the world. While this is a fitting reminder that life on earth will certainly come to an end so that we may face judgement in order to account for the many blessings we received, these Readings do not in any way represent an invitation to become obsessed about “end times” and so become physically and spiritually inactive.

The 9th of November is set aside by the Church to celebrate the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. This church, considered the mother of all churches in the world, is the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome also known as the Pope, it is the oldest and highest ranking of the four major Basilicas in Rome and is the only church in the world that holds the title of “archbasilica.” St John Lateran, the oldest public Church in the west, was built by Emperor Constantine and dedicated to Christ the Savior in 32AD, but was later rededicated to include St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist. This year, the feast of this mother of all churches falls on a Sunday and so the Readings of the feast shall take the place of the Readings of the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time.

The membership of the universal assembly of the people of God transcends the Church militant which is the collective of all living believers who battle against sin as we journey towards heaven, our ultimate goal. Included in the Body of Christ are our brothers and sisters who passed this road of earthly pilgrimage, genuinely seeking to know God, to love Him, to serve Him and to be happy with Him in this world and in the life to come.