ADVENT LANTERN (daily meditations)

December 13t​ h​, Third Sunday of Advent

The thoughts of Bishop Emeritus Tamás József

The poet priest, Puszta Sándor (+1983) wrote: „If the heart would have one hundred gates, we should open all of them, so the joy could rush in”. We are doing this in a special way today, on the third Sunday of Advent, because our liturgy invites us to, with the words of the Apostle Paul: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! The Lord is near!” (Phil 4,4-5). Let us allow our heart to be filled with joy, also because according to the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: “The one who has many joys has to be a good man”. And truly so, when someone is deprived of joy, when that person is sad, when people lack positive vibes, when they are not loved but provoked, then they are capable of every sin, because the lack of joy is the “dwelling place of the evil one”. Quoting Don Orion (+1940), the priest of the poor, let us say: “Out with the sin and the sorrow from my house!”

Photo: Geréd Zsolt