Advent 3: Gaudete (Rejoice!)

Continuing to reflect on the practice of Maryistic waiting throughout this week, my arrival at the Third Sunday of Advent reminds me that the waiting is not over: In the context of Advent, God's time has not yet come, but like Mary, I am able to appreciate the foretelling of the prophet Isaiah of the joy that would become hers, that would become each of ours:

[Because] the spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God.

Isaiah foreshadows the joy that would be Mary's "Magnificat":

[So therefore] I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, so will the Lord GOD make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.

With Mary, I wait. Patiently, I wait for the coming feast of the Incarnation, the celebration of the Word Made Flesh, Emmanuel - God with us.

How is your Advent going?