Third Sunday of Advent (2)
Notes
Transcript
Gaudete
command: rejoice ya’ll
Gaudete Sunday.
And so the second reading says “rejoice always”
pray without ceasing
give thanks always
When do one, you do them all
What prayer is
can often think of prayer as saying words to God
this is a form of prayer, but it is as much prayer as a dog is a mammal
its a type of prayer, its not prayer itself
so what is prayer itself?
Raising mind to God as St. John Damacene and St. Thomas Aquinas say
As Catechism 2559: raising heart and mind to God
adoration, petition, thanksgiving, intercession, and praise are types of this
but even in petition there is rejoicing and thanksgiving, why?
As Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will.” if believe received then prayer itself should be thankful.
As Phil 4:4-6 says, petition should always be with thanksgiving along with the command again to rejoice always
prayer at core is raising heart and mind to God
this means we will be thinking of God
God is eternal and the good
the eternal is present outside time
the good is positive
Therefore praying involves thinking positively now in the most perfect way possible
c. What thankfulness is
i. And this is thankfulness: “thoughtful Good Now”
think=thank
ii. Good
Now
Rejoicing, Gaudete
Often expressed by leaping or crying out or a great smile,
but what does it mean to rejoice at core?
rejoice in heart?
Be completely happy in mind
what is it to be happy, but to have positive thought in mind about now without any lack?
But what does thinking positively now sound like
prayer and thanksgiving (fully positive thought now)
indeed only fully positive b/c only God is.
3 is 1
prayer, thanksgiving, rejoicing
they all end up in the same place, happiness
Although now our seeing God is lacking, so is our prayer, thankfulness and rejoicing, its best we got
Don’t expect happiness without prayer
a. For how can you ever think positively now? (happiness) If you never think positively about now??
must be John the Baptist to ourselves
prepare way b/c he infinite we finite
at best you only will get passing tastes of it from passing limited goods that never stay in the present.
the great liar lies to get you to think happiness lies in them
d. Constant temptation
If prayer, rejoicing, thankfulness then 2 ways devil attacks:
not thinking of the Good
thinking things separate God
either
lesser goods without God or
evils without God’s providence
nothing is fully good but God, so ~positive thinking unless God
not thinking of eternal present
i. Life is full about thinking about the NEXT thing, not the NOW.
ii. Think about the next toy, the next event, the coming weekend,
iii. New tech makes us scroll through feed, to find the next video, the next post, the next NEWS
1. We become addicted to not being thankful, prayerful, or rejoicing, addicted to the NEXT thing
2. mind like glue, if push it onto something for a while it starts to stick to it.
3. But it goes both ways, we can try and stick it more to the NOW.
DONT let phones and tech and news form an igrained anti-prayer habit
e. God’s identity
ii. name is I AM, not I was or I will., I AM, totally that which is, no negation, pure positivity found in the present NOW ALWAYS.
2. Therefore, Gaudete
Notes
Notes
Me
PRAY WITHOUT ceasing… Be St. John yourself to your own mind
give thanks always
Gaudate Sunday
Commentators
Origen
everyone was expecting the Christ around then (mentions 2 false messiahs who took advantage of that)
Chrysostom
John was more respected by Jews on account of son of one of chief priest
Gregory
if man reject right to a wife, and next in line comes loosens his shoe, it means to take up right to that wife
Pitre
baptism was required for worship/enter temple (holiness)
baptism jsut means submersion or washing
untying sandals task of slaves and washing
Isaiah
‘anointed me’ messiahed me
proclaim Gospel
St. Thomas and John Damascene
prayer is raising mind up to God
CCC
2558 relation w/ God, goes on about lifting heart to God.