Advent 2024: Week 3 Reflection

The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love.
​- Zephaniah 3:17

A Reflection
by Mary Burke-Peterson, Parishioner

​It is pink candle Sunday on our journey through Advent. Gaudete! Rejoice! Gaudete! God is with us, God is among us, and God has called us to be with him, to rejoice and live in the ways of the Lord. As people of faith, we rejoice, acknowledge, and celebrate God in our midst, not just today, but every day—past, present, and future. Cry out with joy and gladness; experience the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. Heady stuff...

We honor this day by lighting the pink candle. I was on a small group retreat last weekend where it was noted and mourned that that parish’s wreath had no pink candle, as one of the needed size was not available. Those parishioners expressed concern, because the pink candle reminds us to rejoice in the presence of God, even in the days of darkness and cold.

Today, John the Baptist reminds us that Jesus was baptized as an adult, after 30 years of living, listening, and learning at the margins of his community as he prepared to bring forth the goodness of the word among them and among us. As ever, the true gift of baptism is more than water: it is the gift of communal grace and spirit shared by Holy Spirit, calling us forth beyond the birth or baptism of an infant to a more expansive embrace of faith that is modeled in our care for others. John exhorts us to “pay attention” as we grow into this model of adult faith, formed in and of the community in which we are blessed to live as the true experience of God among us.

Rejoice, for he is greater than I, greater than each of us, yet he is here with us. Rejoice and know this season celebrates so much more than the birth of an infant. It is also the true celebration of our adult faith.
 

Mary has been a parishioner for over 20 years. She coordinates baptisms at both church sites and is involved in many ministries. She earned her Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies from Loyola in 2018.