Third Sunday of Advent 2017

~Today is GAUDETE SUNDAY, Sunday of Rejoicing for Emmanuel will come.
"Rejoice, Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you oh Israel." ~ ROSE CANDLE

~Today, we also begin the O ANTIPHONS during the LITURGY OF THE HOURS. This is a way to intensely prepare for the approaching CHRISTMAS SEASON. There will be a different "O ANTIPHON" posted each day until Christmas.

O Antiphon: O COME, O WISDOM from on high who orders all things mightily, to us the path of knowledge show and teach us in her ways to go.
Response: Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel.

Jesse Tree Story: JONAH
Jesse Tree Symbol: THE WHALE
Scripture: "The waters surrounded me, even to the soul. The abyss has walled me in. The ocean has covered my head."
Jonah 2:6

"For just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the earth for three days and three nights."
Matthew 12:40

Commentary: Jesus used the story of Jonah, who was swallowed by a
whale and miraculously disgorged upon the shore on the third day,
to point out his own burial and resurrection. 
 
Readings of the Day:

Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11
Luke 1
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28