Gaudate Sunday. Copied from Catholic Encyclopedia.

The third Sunday of Advent, so called from the first word of the Introit at Mass (Gaudete, i.e. Rejoice). The season of Advent originated as a fast of forty days in preparation for Christmas, commencing on the day after the feast of St. Martin (12 November), whence it was often called "St. Martin's Lent"-- a name by which it was known as early as the fifth century. The introduction of the Advent fast cannot be placed much earlier, because there is no evidence of Christmas being kept on 25 December before the end of the fourth century (Duchesne, "Origines du culte chrétien", Paris, 1889), and the preparation for the feast could not have been of earlier date than the feast itself. In the ninth century, the duration of Advent was reduced to four weeks, the first allusion to the shortened season being in a letter of St. Nicholas I (858-867) to the Bulgarians, and by the twelfth century the fast had been replaced by simple abstinence. St. Gregory the Great was the first to draw up an Office for the Advent season, and the Gregorian Sacramentary is the earliest to provide Masses for the Sundays of Advent. In both Office and Mass provision is made for five Sundays, but by the tenth century four was the usual number, though some churches of France observed five as late as the thirteenth century. Notwithstanding all these modifications, however, Advent still preserved most of the characteristics of a penitential season which made it a kind of counterpart to Lent, the middle (or third) Sunday corresponding with Laetare or Mid-Lent Sunday. On it, as on Laetare Sunday, the organ and flowers, forbidden during the rest of the season, were, permitted to be used; rose-coloured vestments were allowed instead of purple (or black, as formerly); the deacon and subdeacon reassumed the dalmatic and tunicle at the chief Mass, and cardinals wore rose-colour instead of purple. All these distinguishing marks have continued in use, and are the present discipline of the Latin Church.

3rd Sunday of Advent Year B. By Tobe Eze

Gaudete Sunday (/ɡaʊˈdɛtɛ/ gow-DEH-teh) is the third Sunday of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the Western Church, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, many Lutheran Churches, and other mainline Protestant churches.3rd Sunday of Advent Year B.

FIRST READING Isaiah 61:1—2a, 10—11

SECOND READING
1 Thessalonians 5:16—24

GOSPEL
John 1:6—8, 19—28

THEME: WHAT TYPE OF MESSAGE DO YOU CARRY?

There was a king who fell sick. At a point he asked his first son to go get him his native doctor to consult his ancestors to know the problem. When the native doctor arrived, after incantation, he told him that before he gets well all his brothers must die. When the king heard that, he asked him to be arrested. The king sent for another native doctor, when that one came he started like this. My king, I think before you get out of this, we have to do something about your enemies. The king asked him what they will do, he told him that his enemies are his brothers but he suggests that a sacrifice and charm for protection should be made for him but if he wants to end everything, they have to be killed. The king chose the first option. Why this story? It is about the type of messages we carry around. Sometimes we carry bad ones, sometimes good ones but in a wrong manner or place and sometimes we carry good ones at perfect place it should be. Sometimes we give people hope where there is no hope through our messages, sometimes we give people hope where there is hope. Sometimes we take away hope where there is hope through our messages. What we should ask ourselves is, what type of message do we carry about? Some are true but the communication may make it or them bad. Like when you want to tell a woman who has one son that the son is dead, it is true but there is a way you will present it and you will bury two persons and there is a way you will present it and she will understand. Mode or manner of communication.

APOSTOLIC VOCATIONS. Rev. Fr. Mike Okata's Handout on Spiritual Theology.

I found and also find this very interesting and have decided to share it. it is not just ordinary class work but life changing work.

Bigard memorial seminary, enugu. Spiritual theology

 STH 315: APOSTOLIC VOCATIONS

Priestly and religious Vocations: Nature, Signs, Care/Fostering of vocations (Read Optatam Totius no. 2; Cans. 232 – 235; Pastores Dabo Vobis nos. 34 – 59).

Vocations to which everyone is called from all eternity: the vocation to be “holy and blameless” (Eph. 1:4-5; LG. 39, 40) are of various kinds, but the most commonly distinguished in the Church are those of the lay, the clerical and religious states of life. Marriage is also a special divine call, (LG 35) and cannot be answered together with the priestly and religious vocations. Both have the characteristics of vocation in general but also have their own peculiarities.

PRIESTLY VOCATION: NATURE

Every Christian vocation is founded on God, because it comes from God and is God’s gift and is never given outside the Church (Pastores Dabo Vobis 35). The Church by her nature is a vocation and a begetter and educator of vocation, “because she is a sacrament, a sign and instrument in which the vocation of every Christian is reflected and lived out” (PDV, ibid).

The priesthood is a call not a career, a re-definition of the self, not just a new ministry, a way of life not a job, a state of being, not just a function; a permanent lifelong commitment, not a temporary style of service, an identity, not just a role (Cardinal Dolan).

“Every high priest is taken from among human beings and is appointed to act on their behalf in relation with God, to offer gifts and sacrificed for sins’ (Heb 5:1).

SIGNS OF VOCATIONS

The Ration Fundamentalis for the training of priests (No, 39) describes and lists the human and moral qualities of those who are candidates for the priesthood; the spiritual and intellectual gifts which they must have to apt for the priestly ministry. Such attitudes that one must have before any call from the Lord is established include:

a.     Right intention: This involves motives of intention. A right intention is absolutely necessary

b.     Spiritual qualities – piety and sacramental practices

c.      Human and moral qualities

d.     Pastoral qualities

e.      Intellectual qualities (can 1029)

f.       Health (can 1029)

g.     Emotional Maturity

2nd Sunday of Advent Year B. By Tobe Eze

2nd Sunday of Advent Year B.

FIRST READING
Isaiah 40:1—5, 9—11

SECOND READING
2 Peter 3:8—14

GOSPEL
Mark 1:1—8

THEME: MAKE THE CROOKED WAY STRAIGHT.

 This call for making the crooked way straight, leveling every hilly areas and so on that appeared in the first reading and the gospel can only touch us very well when we apply what St. Peter said in the second reading that, “ten thousand years are like a day before God and we do not know that day of the Lord.” It is the spirit of there time that devil uses to deceive us that think always that the day of the Lord is ten thousand years coming, it just like a day. Our days of the Lord are differently. Onye na nke ya. Continue Reading.......................

A VISIT TO THE MORTUARY. By Tobe Eze

A VISIT TO THE MORTUARY.

INTRODUCTION.

The end product of our struggling here in this physical world is death. Whatever we gather on this earth, whatever we think we have and are will surely be defeated one day by death. Death is cure for all our ill health and sound health. People go about doing anything on earth to get firm, wealth, name and many other prestigious positions on earth and tend to forget that death is real. Martin Heidegger is a philosopher who talked about authentic death and he explained it with one being conscious of his personal death. When one recognizes that death is private then dasein (one) will come back to itself. When we realize that we are to end up this passing world one day, we will try to live an authentic life. Continue Reading.................................

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. By Tobe Eze

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A.

FIRST READING
Wisdom 12:13, 16—19

SECOND READING
Romans 8:26—27

GOSPEL
Matthew 13:24—43

THEME: GIVE THEM CHANCE.

The last statement of the first reading is, “And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; and you gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.” It is on this ground with the first parable in the Gospel that I wish to start with a story.

Two girls were living in the same room in the university. One was too promiscuous and the other was too pious. The one that was too pious was seeing her roommate as a candidate for hell fire. She does not for her, hardly does she talks to her. She sees fault in everything she does. The other, whenever she wants to do anything good, she does it for the two. One day the canal one called the pious one to narrate her story of life to her so that she will help her but she said no, that she has nothing to do with someone like you. One who sleeps with any man that passes around her. When they graduated, they went to their various homes. The pious one did not get job immediately. Her father and mother died through fire outbreak. She was left with nothing material to start life and she had three siblings to take care of. To cut the story short. After suffering for years, she succumbed to what almost every man that comes to her rescue tells her. Your body in exchange of help. She succumbed to that and was even worst than his roommate. After many years if experience and every other things, the two roommates met again. That was when she accepted to listen to her roommate. Her roommate told her that was born and brought up in the community of prostitutes. Her mother died as a prostitute. She told her that she was making effort to stop that type of life when they were in school but she did not give her chance to explain herself to her. Continue Reading......................................

1st Sunday of Advent Year B. By Tobe Eze

                                                                     ADVENT
Advent is a season observed in many Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The term is a version of the Latin word meaning "coming". The term "Advent" is also used in Eastern Orthodoxy for the 40-day Nativity Fast, which has practices ...

1st Sunday of Advent Year B.

FIRST READING
Isaiah 63:16b—17, 19b; 64:2—7

SECOND READING
1 Corinthians 1:3—9

GOSPEL
Mark 13:33—37

THEME: THERE IS NO TIME TO WASTE.

One day after my preaching in a gathering, I emphasized much on end of time. One man stood up and asked me. Let me quote him, “Since my great grandfather, my grand father, my father and my own self were born, we have been hearing about end time, end of time, the coming of the son of man and many other ways people qualify it. My question is now, when is that end time coming?” I stood for sometimes and answered the man, Now! He asked, How? I told him. People die everyday, death meet people here and there and we are meant to know that there is no repentance or change of heart in the grave, and we do no when we will die. If that is so, then I asked him back, when are you going to die? He answered me that he does not know. From there i made him to understand that once you don’t know when, how and where you will die, it is good to make every minute or even second of your life your last opportunity. If we regard every minute or second of our lives as our last opportunity, we will do good, obey God's commandments and men’s positive laws. Continue Reading......................

Solemnity of Christ the King Year A. By Tobe Eze

Solemnity of Christ the King Year A.

FIRST READING
Ezekiel 34:11—12, 15—17

SECOND READING
1 Corinthians 15:20—26, 28

GOSPEL
Matthew 25:31—46

THEME: KING WITH DIFFERENCE.

I was one of those who has zero percent in music, singing, dancing, beating, playing and think of anything in music, I know nothing in it. In my first year in my school, I was nobody in music especially our Ikorodo cultural dance. In my second year I made serious effort to upgrade and I was a little bit recognized, finally in my third year I was a star in the area of singing in Ikorodo. In my first and second year, anytime we have anything to perform, I always go on time to get the costume that I will wear for I knew that if I don’t go on time I may miss the chance of performing in that occasion. In my year three when I noticed that without me, the singing department will have problem, pride came over me. I go late, they will start looking for me everywhere and they will keep my cloth for me even when others have none. Why am I telling this story? Just that I am being recognized, I started misbehaving. What of God who is all in all who is yet to misbehave? King that promised to come and serve his subjects and did so. Continue Reading............................................

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. By Tobe Eze

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A.

FIRST READING
1 Kings 3:5, 7—12

SECOND READING
Romans 8:28—30

GOSPEL

Matthew 13:44—52

THEME: IT TAKES SERIOUS SACRIFICE TO THAT OUR VISION.

I wish to start with this story; UNWISE START LEADS TO A SAD END: Once, there was a mouse that had his hole near a pool in a thick forest. A frog often came out for basking in the sun. Within no time, they became buddies. But the friendship of a frog and mouse is highly undesirable because the frog's home is in water and the mouse on land. One day the frog said to the mouse, "Let’s bind ourselves together with a string so that we may never get separated." The mouse agreed. So, both tied themselves together leg-to-leg. Though on land, it went quite well, but in the pool, it was tragic for the mouse. The frog swam about delightfully in the pool dragging the mouse with him. Soon, the mouse drowned and his body floated on the surface of the pool. A kite hovering in the sky saw the dead mouse it swooped down to carry it off. Up went the frog as well and became the kite's meal. Continue Reading..........................

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. By Tobe Eze

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A.

FIRST READING
Proverbs 31:10—13, 19—20, 30—31

SECOND READING
1 Thessalonians 5:1—6

GOSPEL

Matthew 25:14—30

THEME: WHAT ARE YOU ATTACHED TO? (WHAT ARE YOU MARRING?).

A man (an academician) told his wife and children, for no reason should they disturb him anytime he is in his study except on issues of life. The day he died, he stayed two days before his family could notice that he was dead. Because of the marriage between him and his books, his wife and children could not summon courage to go to him in his study till when they noticed that it was becoming too much and the wife entered and saw him dead on the seat with one of his books in his hands. He was married to his books. Continue Reading.....................