The Challenge to Rejoice on Gaudete Sunday

It’s Gaudete Sunday, from the Latin word which means “rejoice.” We are called to rejoice because we are more than halfway through our Advent journey—just ten more days until Christmas! St. Paul encourages us, “Rejoice in the Lord always… The Lord is near” (Philippians 4: 4-5). For this reason, we light the rose candle and wear rose vestments. But do you feel like rejoicing today?

Maybe not. Perhaps you are struggling with financial problems, or physical problems, family or friendship issues. Perhaps you are lonely or grieving, fearful or anxious. Perhaps you are worried about our country or our world. Maybe the Advent prayer, “Come, Lord Jesus” has been on your heart for a long time and it doesn’t seem to be answered. Nevertheless, the Church calls us to rejoice today because “the Lord is near.”

This is the message the prophet Zephaniah uttered (640 – 609 B.C.), some fifty years before the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple: “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! … The King of Israel, the Lord is in your midst” (3: 14-15). What is this, some kind of a joke? How can they rejoice when the Babylonian army is marching towards their city walls? 

Remember, this is a prophesy; and in prophetic literature the past, present and future tenses are sometimes blurred together. The prophesy continues: “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, he will sing joyfully because of you as one sings at festivals” (3: 17). The ways of the Lord are mysterious. Although He was in their midst, He still allowed their city to be destroyed by those who dragged them off into exile. 

There was a bigger plan; a plan that painted the pattern for our own spiritual lives. All of us have been created by God for a loving relationship with Him. All of us have allowed sin to capture us, at times, and to drag us away from God into some kind of exile. But the King of Israel, the Lord God, has come into our midst, a mighty Savior. He has renewed us in the past and He can renew us again and again. For this reason we are called to rejoice, no matter what our current circumstances may be. We are invited to place our trust in the God who saves. The Name of Jesus means, “Yahweh saves.”

Notice that when St. Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always” this is a command: Do it! Rejoice! Reflecting on this passage, Bishop Robert Barron writes: 
“Joy is something that we can will, not a matter of waiting for any emotional state to arrive. But what makes this possible? To rejoice, we must first put away selfishness and learn to love. When we find ourselves joyless or listless, often the best thing we can do is to perform some concrete act of love.” (The Word on Fire Bible: Acts, Letters and Revelation, p. 423.)

That’s what John the Baptist tells people to do to prepare for the coming of the Lord. “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. Whoever has food should do likewise” (Luke 3: 11). It’s pretty clear: Give you life away to those in need. As St. John Paul II said, “Our being increases in the measure in which we give it away.” 

So whether or not you feel like rejoicing, love someone today in a practical way, and see how the Lord blesses you with joy. Because where there is love there is God (rendered in Latin: Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.)