You're listening to Catholic Sprouse, the daily podcast for Catholic kids that strives to plant seeds of faith.

Hey there, Sprouse.

Today is Friday, December 18th, 2020.

Now, today we are going to talk about the final ingredient to waiting well.

We've already talked about having faith in God, having hope that we will be in heaven one day, surrendering, which of course will lead us to peace. And today we will talk about

being joyful and rejoicing. Remember, this is the third week of Advent, and we have lit the pink

candle this week. Now, we do this on purpose to remind ourselves that even though this is a time

of penance and waiting, there is joy in the waiting. There is joy. Now, why is there joy? And how can joy be a part of waiting?

Because if you ask me, waiting isn't very much fun. I don't like waiting either. But there is joy here.

Why? Because we know how this story ends, don't we? We know what will happen at the end of Advent.

What happens? Jesus is born. That's why we can be joyful right now. We are waiting. We aren't

celebrating yet, and yet we are filled with joy because we know how this story ends.

The same is true with Lent.

There's also a Sunday in Lent when the priests will wear a pink vestment,

and that is because even though you were suffering,

even though we are talking quite a bit about the passion and death of Jesus Christ,

we can be joyful because we know how this story ends. We know that Jesus rises from the dead

and conquers death. Therefore, rejoice. So, sprouts, we need to rejoice this day. But we don't rejoice

by jumping right into Christmas. Yes, there is great joy

and rejoicing on Christmas, but there is a different sort of joy now. It is the type of joy that you

might feel if you know something wonderful is coming. There is a great sense of joy in waiting for great things to come. For example,

if you have ever had family come to visit that you haven't seen in a long time, counting down

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