The third Sunday of Advent is celebrated as Gaudete Sunday and it marks the middle of the Advent season. In ecclesiastical Latin, “gaudete” means “rejoice” and is symbolized by the rose-colored candle in the Advent wreath. 

This Sunday’s reading from St. Paul may give you a sense of pause. You may say: “You mean I’m to rejoice even if I have just lost my job, or my spouse is very ill, or my husband, wife, or child has abandoned me and wants nothing to do with me?”

Remarkably, St. Paul’s message is “Yes, give thanks, and rejoice!”  That is a hard pill to swallow. Although, let’s be careful. He is not saying for us to put on blinders and happily skip down the yellow brick road. St. Paul had plenty of trials and accusations leveled against him. His epistles to the various churches of Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy are filled with numerous personal problems and tribulations. Chained, beaten, and thrown into prison Paul came face-to-face with trouble, understood its meaning, and in the end, smiled.

An example of this is in Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians, (composed between 52 and 62 AD, source: The Jerusalem Bible, chapter 1, verses 1-11, and following),

“1:1) From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, together with their presiding elders and deacons.

1:2) We wish you the grace and peace of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ. (1:3) I thank my God whenever I think of you; and (1:4) every time I pray for all of you, I pray with joy, (1:5) remembering how you have helped to spread the Good News from the day you first heard it right up to the present. (1:6) I am quite certain that the One who began this good work in you will see that it is finished when the Day of Christ Jesus comes.

1:7) It is only natural that I should feel like this towards you all, since you have shared the privileges which have been mine: both my chains and my work defending and establishing the Gospel. You have a permanent place in my heart, (1:8) and God knows how much I miss you all, loving you as Christ Jesus loves you.

1:9) My prayer is that your love for each other may increase more and more and never stop improving your knowledge and deepening your perception, (1:10) so that you can always recognize what is best. This will help you to become pure and blameless, and prepare you for the Day of Christ, (1:11) when you will reach the perfect goodness which Jesus Christ produces in us for the glory and praise of God.”

St. Paul links the ability to possess sincere joy with prayer. Our spiritual, and possibly physical survival, depends on our developing a sincere daily prayer life. Regardless of whether it is long or short the heart of all prayer is a conversation with our Lord. This conversation can only occur when we perceive reality as a trusting and knowledgeable child of God rather than that of a secular adult; however, we must “be as wise as serpents but as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10: 16).

On Gaudete Sunday we rejoice that our faith and trust in His love will enable us to endure any tribulation; and this gives us the strength to love and serve Him by loving, serving, and praying for one another. 

My family and I hope you have a prayerful Advent and a joy-filled Christmas season! May God bless you and your families.

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