Today we celebrate Gaudete Sunday, which means “rejoice!” It comes from the entrance antiphon for the mass which says “Rejoice in the Lord always! Rejoice for the Lord is near!”  The first reading goes on to describe why we should rejoice as it states, “The LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD.”  

Our cause for rejoicing is that, while we were yet sinners, enslaved to our vices, God came to free and heal us. He came to heal our broken-heartedness and so we rejoice at being relieved of this pain.

I’m sure by now many of you have read or heard of the short letter I wrote in the newspaper asking all of us to come together to give the gift of forgiveness to those who stole our tabernacle. Indeed, the dream is that they will one day stand beside us at Mass to pray and worship God. If we can’t imagine or accept that, I would ask us to consider if we truly have forgiven them and if we think that Gaudete Sunday is only for Mass goers and those not in prison.  

Indeed, we rejoice because God sees in us who we truly are and who we can truly become as saints, and the same is true of the incarcerated. Our prayer is that God’s mercy shown through our own mercy can help them see their own dignity in the eyes of God.  

We are called to “heal the broken-hearted,” but how can we do that if we have not allowed God to heal our own hearts? In the letter to the newspaper I encouraged people to write letters of forgiveness to the offenders. With your support, I will personally write one to each of them on behalf of our parish. If you are moved by the Holy Spirit to write them a letter as well, please do so in charity and bring the letter by the parish office. Indeed, forgiveness is not simply a gift we give them, but also a gift we give ourselves and it transforms us to be like the merciful God who will come to visit us at Christmas.  

My dearest friends, we have so many reasons to rejoice because of what God has done for us and because of what God will continue to do for us. I pray we can become a merciful people, a merciful parish, that is compassionate and let’s go of offenses. This goes for the ways in which we have offended one another as well. Too often we step on one another’s toes and harbor resentment. However, God wants to free us from the prison of anger, bitterness, and resentment, and forgiveness is the key that opens our jail cell doors. Receive God’s forgiveness in confession and apply it as liberally in your life as you would like to receive it.  Rejoice! You are free! You are healed by God’s grace! I say again, “Rejoice!”  

Buen Camino,
Fr. Philip Brune