GAUDETE SUNDAY

 

Who remembers what color I talked about last week? Blue. This week, I am going to talk about the color Pink.

Pink comes to us from a flower with a great big word that I cannot even pronounce (Caryophyllales). It is also known as a carnation. Pink is usually pale red. We find in our world pink flowers and plants, pink flamingoes, elephants, salmon and pigs. Some people drive pink Cadillacs and others wear pink carnations on their white sport coats. My wife loves pink sunsets.

Since today is the Third Sunday of Advent, we lit the pink candle on our wreathe. Pink symbolizes joy and happiness because we are getting closer to celebrating the birth of Jesus. Christmas is only 8 days away! Can you feel the joy?!

In St. Paul’s Letter this morning, we heard him telling people, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing.” King David wrote in Psalm 126, “When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.” He must have known something about gardening too because he finished the psalm with, “He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy.”

When we are joyful, our faces show it. We smile and laugh. Sometimes, we jump around and dance, or sing and clap our hands. As Christians, we do this because we rejoice that God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – love us and are with us here and now. We feel them in our hearts, and we feel so joyful.

St. Paul tells us that we must also rejoice when we are suffering because we know even though we face trouble, we prayerfully thank God for His gift of salvation. So, pink reminds us to rejoice and pray.

And now, let us pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless all children, and give their fathers and mothers the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.