Dear friends:
Today we celebrate Gaudete Sunday, a time that is meant to draw us closer in anticipation of the coming of the Lord. Indeed, it is crucial to consider that every Christian, who takes their baptism and devotion seriously, is anxiously awaiting the second coming of Christ. Sadly, too often, this great mystery is presented as something fearful and dreadful. There is an ominousness to considering such a thing. Most movies show the coming of Jesus as something that will be terrible and awful, because everything we now know, and control will come to an end.
This past week, the news focused on the nation’s conversation concerning the possibility of impeaching the President. I am not in favor of such a motion, though I don’t always agree with the President’s administrative policies. We are accustomed to voting for our leaders and expect that they will steadfastly look to care for the common good. We are uncomfortable with the concept of Kingship and absolute power resting on the shoulders of only one person, but this is precisely what we preach and what we are waiting for. Our hope is based upon God coming back into our lives precisely to govern it. To share with us his sovereignty, where there will be no more sin and death. It sounds like a fantasy, but this is what Christ promised us and is the fullness of our hope.
This past week, we celebrate the great Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Thousands of pilgrims came on pilgrimage in gratitude to Our Lady and God for the blessings already received or came in supplication for graces needed. Either way, a pilgrim is, by definition, someone who has hope and expresses that hope in real and visible ways.
Our Lady of Guadalupe brings us her Son Jesus so that the fullness of God’s promise of eternal life may be finally ours. As we hear about the level of division growing in civil society and the Church, many feel that it is now more important to call upon God to send his Son and fulfill all that was promised. But until then, we are called to keep vigil for his coming and show the world that Christ is both immanent and transcendent in his Church.
Very Rev. Esequiel Sanchez