Today we celebrate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. This Christmas season, like this past year, is unlike any that any in our lifetimes. While normal family gatherings may be curtailed, our faith in Christ reminds us that we are members of God’s family as His children. This holy season also draws our attention to the Holy Family of Nazareth.
This Sunday is the Third Sunday of Advent. This Sunday is known as “Gaudete (“rejoice ye”) Sunday.” This day is a day to be reminded that, in the midst of a penitential season, we are to rejoice that Christ will come again.
The Second Sunday of Advent presents us with the person of St. John the Baptist. Today’s Gospel reading from Mark 1:1-8 tells us that, “John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. And this is what he proclaimed: ‘One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’”