Today is Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent. Today we light the pink, or rose, candle on the Advent wreath. It is called Gaudete Sunday because of the opening antiphon of the Introit Gaudete in Domino semper (Rejoice in the Lord always). The opening words of the second reading from 1 Thessalonians are these, “Rejoice always.”
In today’s first reading, we see those beautifully haunting words of the Prophet from Isaiah 61, the ones that Jesus quoted in the temple at the start of his public ministry…”The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me tyo bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God.”
Rejoice (gaudete) is a theme in today’s readings. We see the word in the first reading, the Responsorial and the second reading. Rejoicing needs to be more than just something we do when something good happens to us. Rejoicing needs to be a way of life. Not just now and again, but, as St. Paul says, “Rejoice ALWAYS.)
Father, make us each day a people of rejoicing. Help us to see Your will being carried out in our lives. Amen.
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