Sunday, Dec. 14, is the third Sunday of Advent (Year B, Cycle I).

Parish

EPriest.com offers Best Parish Practices.

We recently published an article in Faith & Family magazine about special-needs kids, and we were gratified by the response. There are many children with special needs — especially in our readers’ circles, with larger families and pro-life principles.

Special Religious Education Development (Spred) provides a way for busy pastors to attend to special-needs parishioners without neglecting the rest of the parish, reports EPriest.

“Spred is a blessing to our parish and the other parishes with whom we collaborate,” said Father Michael Michalski, pastor of SS. Peter and Paul in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. “It fits well with what Jesus said about letting the little children come to him.”

Spred began in 1967 in the Archdiocese of Chicago and is now thriving in over 126 parishes there; it has centers in 28 dioceses worldwide.

EPriest has more details.

Family

NCRegister.com includes a clickable “Resources” tab on the home page.

It’s Gaudete (“Rejoice”) Sunday. The moment everyone’s been waiting for: lighting the pink candle. Don’t forget to wear something pink to Mass!

This year, make confession a central part of your Advent preparation. Go to the Register’s web resources and click on “Confessional Guides” to find an examination of conscience for children. See page B1 for our Advent confession guide.

Media

Think of It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol (we like the George C. Scott version) as remote preparation for confession.

Each year, like so many others, we watch these great stories in which the lead character must face the good and bad in his past life through the mediation of heavenly visitors. Watch them, then imitate them.

Readings

Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11; Psalm: Luke 1:46-50, 53-54; First Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

EPriest.com offers free homily packs for priests.

Our Take

The second reading demands that we rejoice today. But how?

“Some people ask: But is this joy still possible today?” said Pope Benedict XVI last Gaudete Sunday. Today’s first two readings have the answer.

1. The first reading announces glad tidings for the poor. If you want to be happy, the first thing you need to do is help the poor with Christian charity.

Said Pope Benedict XVI: “Was not Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta an unforgettable witness of true Gospel joy in our time? She lived in touch daily with wretchedness, human degradation and death. Her soul knew the trials of the dark night of faith, yet she gave everyone God’s smile.”

He quotes her saying “Being happy with God means loving like him, helping like him, giving like him, serving like him.” He adds: “Yes, joy enters the hearts of those who put themselves at the service of the lowly and poor. God abides in those who love like this, and their souls rejoice.”

2. The Psalm is unusual today. It’s the Magnificat, from the Gospel of Luke. In it, Mary finds happiness in the destruction of the false sources of happiness — riches and material comforts.

“If people make an idol of happiness,” said Pope Benedict, “they lose their way, and it is truly hard for them to find the joy of which Jesus speaks. Unfortunately, this is what is proposed by cultures that replace God by individual happiness, mindsets that find their emblematic effect in seeking pleasure at all costs, in spreading drug use as an escape, a refuge in artificial paradises that later prove to be entirely deceptive.”

3. The source of joy is revealed in the Gospel, of course. John the Baptist says there is one coming “whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” If you want to find happiness, follow John’s advice. Repent, go to confession — and wait.