Gaudete Sunday

 

Our week begins with “Gaudete Sunday.” Gaudete means “rejoice” in Latin.  It comes from the first word of the Entrance antiphon on Sunday.  The spirit of joy that begins this week comes from the words of Paul, “The Lord is near.”  This joyful spirit is marked by the third candle of our Advent wreath, which is rose colored, and the rose-colored vestments often used at the Eucharist.

We prepare this week by feeling hope and joy.  We move through this week feeling a part of the waiting world that rejoices because our longing has prepared us to believe the reign of God is close at hand.  And so, we consciously ask:  Prepare our hearts and remove the sadness that hinders us from feeling the joy and hope which his presence will bestow.

Each morning this week, in that moment we are becoming accustomed to, we want to light a third inner candle.  Three candles, going from expectation, to longing, to joy.  They represent our inner preparation, or inner perspective.  In this world of “conflict and division,” “greed and lust for power,” we begin each day this week with a sense of liberating joy.  Perhaps we can pause, breathe deeply, and say, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

Each day this week, we will continue to go through our everyday life, but we will experience the difference our faith can bring to it.  We are confident that the grace we ask for will be given us.  We will encounter sin - in our own hearts and in our experience of the sin of the world.  We can pause in those moments, and feel the joy of the words, “You are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

We may experience the Light shining into the dark places of our lives and inviting us to experience God's mercy and healing.  Each night this week we want to pause in gratitude.  Whatever the day has brought, no matter how busy it has been, we can stop, before we fall asleep, to give thanks for a little more light, a little more freedom to walk by that light, in joy.

Our celebration of the coming of our Savior in history, is opening us up to experience his coming to us this year and preparing us to await his coming in Glory.  Come, Lord Jesus.  Come and visit your people. We await your coming.  Come, O Lord.