Episode Transcript
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Twice a year, I get to put on this chasuble
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and facetiously ask the congregation what colour they think it is.
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Invariably, someone boldly suggests that it’s pink,
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to which I reply,
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“In fact, it’s rose, because Jesus rose from the dead!”
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Lame?
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A little bit,
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but did it bring a smile to your face?
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As we eagerly anticipate Christmas,
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Gaudete Sunday is all about rejoicing
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at Jesus’ presence in our lives.
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“Look,” Isaiah proclaims,
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“your God is coming... He is coming to save you!”
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Friends, our faith is so much more
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than about what we believe and profess.
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Because it’s principally about our reaction and subsequent action
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to what God does and is doing in our lives.
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"Tell others what you see and hear,”
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Jesus says,
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don’t keep it to yourself!
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I'd like to share a joyful story with you.
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Earlier this year, I had the privilege of anointing an
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elderly woman in the palliative care ward.
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She was dying from cancer in both lungs after a lifetime of smoking.
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The light in her eyes was dim
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as she shared with me her pain
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that her children didn’t practice the faith
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she’d done her best to pass on.
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Immediately after laying hands on her
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and anointing her forehead and palms, however,
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her eyes lit up
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as with a joyful smile, she whispered,
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“It’s going from here to here.”
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It wasn't lost on me
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that the gentle warmth she was describing
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went from the site of her anointing
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to the site of her cancer.
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And do you know what she whispered next?
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She said,
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“Now I can tell my family that it’s all true,
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Jesus is real.”
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Friends, may we rejoice
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at Jesus’ living presence in our lives.
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Amen.
