Mary did you know?

Advent 3 at St. Paul's

Fr. Cathie Caimano and St. Paul's Salisbury, NC

Dec 15, 2025

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Dewey Preslar and the choir helped celebrate 'Gaudete Sunday’ - Mary’s Sunday.

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Sermon notes:

My initial read of the lessons and Gospel, I was trying to figure out what my conversation could be about today.

The Gospel lesson speaks to preparing for something among other things.

It could easily have been a conversation about John’s doubting.

John is no longer in the desert baptizing, he is in prison, awaiting possible execution. And he is beginning to wonder if Jesus is the one.

John, the very same person who devoted his life to preparing the way of the Lord is starting to have doubts.

And we could easily spend time about that for the rest of my conversation this morning.

But as I re-read the Gospel a number of times, a song kept popping in my head and thinking.

A song that prepares for what is coming.

Advent is a season of joyful waiting and preparation that marks the start of the church year, focused on both the first coming of Jesus at Christmas and his second coming in glory at Easter.

Advent is a time for reflection, hype, and anticipation using prayer and symbols like the Advent wreath to prepare our hearts for Christ’s arrival.

I talked to Andy DeFabo about my thinking for the third Sunday of Advent and he commented that it is ‘Mary’s Sunday’.

And so, the 3rd Sunday of Advent is called “Mary’s Sunday” because the liturgical readings and themes of this day are centered on joy and the anticipation of Christ, align with Mary’s role as the ‘herald of joy and hope’.

Her song of praise - the Magnificat - is a central focus and she is seen as the one who first shared the joy of Christ’s coming into the world.

In the Gospel, John sent word to Jesus by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

Jesus answered, Go tell John what you hear and see:

the blind will receive their sight, the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are
raised,
and the poor have good news brought to
them.”

Mary did you know?

So when I read the Gospel over and over, that song kept playing in my head and heart. Mary did you know? Which is the anthem this morning.

Think about Mary when the angel appeared to her with the good news, and over 2000 years ago that she is about to deliver that good news.

Imagine Mary giving birth to a baby and laying him in a manger.

As she watched him, could she have imagined all the wonderful things that her son, the Son of God would do on the earth.

Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?
Did you know that your baby boy will save our sonsand daughters?
Did you know that you baby boy has come to make
you new?
This little child you’ve delivered will soon deliver
you?
The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will
live again, the lame will leap, the dumb will speak.
The praises of the Lamb.

The song might cause one to wonder was Mary aware of all that Jesus would do. The song might cause one to wonder was Mary aware of all that Jesus would do. She knew that he would be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

She knew that the Lord God would give to Jesus the throne of David. She knew that he would reign over the house of Jacob forever.

Mary did you Know? Yes, I believe that she knew.

Andy and I talked about maybe I was getting ahead of myself with this conversation the 3rd Sunday of Advent.

But I easily got there as we prepare what is coming in eleven days. So this Sunday, we light the rose or pink candle, symbolizing joy at the near completion of Advent and the coming birth of Jesus.