Gaudete Simply Means ‘Rejoice!’
This coming Sunday is Gaudete Sunday; the day we light the pink candle in our Advent wreath. Gaudete simply means rejoice. On this day, the somber tone of the first two Sundays of Advent, with their focus on judgement and repentance, lightens as we begin to anticipate the joy that comes with the nativity of our Lord.
In these days of political unrest, skepticism, and deep anxiety, it seems naïve to talk about joy. Yet the simple gesture of lighting the third (pink) candle on the Advent Wreath and the cry of “Gaudete” (Rejoice) on the third Sunday, lifts our hearts. The Lord is near!
The Advent readings this week, guide us to rejoice, pray, and give thanks – pretty good advice and all related. If we recognize all our blessings, we will see that joy is already in our lives and give thanks for it in prayer.
However, we can’t set out to find and possess joy which we might equate with happiness. Rather it is the result of something else – an unexpected surprise, a reconciliation, a promise fulfilled – and then joy comes to us. It is a gift.
During Advent, the Liturgy is rich in promise and anticipation, increasing each week as we “wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour.” This week, we hear three Advent voices– Isaiah, John the Baptist, and Mary – to encourage us and increase our hope. Isaiah, in beautiful poetry, speaks of the wilderness blossoming and the sick being healed; signs of the joy of hope fulfilled at what the Lord does for us. We struggle and are tempted to give up but despite our inconsistency, God keeps faith forever so, “strengthen your feeble hands and steady your trembling knees and say to the faint-hearted, Courage! Do not be afraid.”
We have received the Good News and are constantly called forth, like John the Baptist, from the desert of our desolation and wobbles of faith and even from the prison of despair to rejoice and “bloom where we’re planted,” confident in the Lord’s promise. But it is especially in Mary’s discipleship and trust, when she uttered her “Let it be done” that unleashed the power of the Holy Spirit to a new birth in the coming of the Saviour, that fulfilled hope and brought joy.
Lord God, increase our joy by increasing our faith and trust in your unfailing love this Advent season.
Norman+
