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Dear
Cathedral Community,
As we walk
deeper into this Advent season, my heart keeps returning to Mary’s song; the Magnificat, a hymn of courage, reversal,
and unwavering trust.
My
soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior…
He
has lifted up the lowly.
He
has filled the hungry with good things…
He
has remembered his promise of mercy.
These
ancient words rise from Mary at a moment when the world seemed
anything but secure. And yet, she sings, because she knows that God’s
mercy is persistent, God’s justice is active, and God’s promises
endure.
This
week, the church invites us into Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent,a moment when the
purple of waiting is lightened by rose, and the call is simple and
profound: Rejoice!
Gaudete
Sunday is not naïve joy. It is not joy that ignores hardship,
conflict, or the deep groaning of the world. It is joy born from the
same place Mary sings from:
a trust
that God is moving, even when we cannot yet see how;
a belief
that the lowly will be lifted;
a
conviction that the hungry will be fed;
a hope
that mercy will have the final word.
Mary’s “My
spirit rejoices in God my Savior” is, in many ways, the original
Gaudete proclamation. Her song teaches us that rejoicing is an act of
faith—a decision to stand in God’s promise even while we are still
waiting for its fullness.
Here at
St. Mark’s, we glimpse this joy in the ways we care for one another,
gather around our young people, serve our unhoused neighbors, and
open our doors to a city hungry for peace. Every act of compassion
becomes a small flare of rose-colored light in a world longing for
dawn.
As we
approach Gaudete Sunday, may we let Mary’s song rise within us.
May our
spirits find ways—large or small—to rejoice.
And may
our community embody the joy that comes from trusting that God is,
even now, doing great things among us.
With
gratitude and rejoicing alongside you,
Tim+
The
Rev. Timothy M. Kingsley
Provost,
Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral
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