The Rose coloured Candle

Gaudete Sunday, the word Gaudete is Latin and means “rejoice”. Advent used to be a 40 day fast like Lent and was called “the small Lent”. Gaudete Sunday was a break during the fast. The spirit of the liturgy all through Advent is one of expectation and preparation for the feast of Christmas as well as for the second coming of Christ, and the exercises in repentance suitable to a Lenten type period were put aside, on the 3rd Sunday of Advent to celebrate the joy and gladness in the promised Redemption that was coming.

This Sunday is tied to John the Baptist, who prepared the way for his cousin. John message announced that the “Light of the World” was coming, he called people to repent for their sins and baptized them. The way a gentile convert to Judiasm would be baptized. A baptism can be a joyous occasion.

Today should be a time of joy, think of the joy in the heart of John’s mother, Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin, barren for so many years. Now finally in her old age with a baby lying in her arms, and a heart full of joy knowing this is not just any baby, her boy is the prophet who will announce the coming of the Messiah.

I know Christmas can be a time of sorrow for many, with now absent loved ones. But there is a difference between joy and happiness.

While happiness is dependent on external conditions, joy is "the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing – sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death - can take that love away." Thus joy can be present even in the midst of sadness. Henri Nouwen, Theologian

So try to put aside any grief for today. Let us rejoice in the unconditional love that the Father has for us, and the Joy that we have in Jesus.