"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near." - Introductory Antiphon for the Gaudete Sunday, The Third Sunday of Advent
It was formally customary to refer to the Sundays by the first words of the Introit at Mass, in Latin. For example, the First Sunday of Advent was referred to as Ad te levavi Sunday due to the first words of the introit, "To you I lift." The Third Sunday of Advent is one of the two Sundays in the Church year, which have retained that tradition, the other being the Fourth Sunday of Lent, which bears a strong resemblance to this Sunday.
The first word today's Introductory Antiphon is, "gaudete," meaning "You all rejoice" (as in a command), and thus we get the name Gaudete Sunday. There is a lightheartedness to this day, in contradiction to the penitential aspect of Advent. Instead of the penitential violet color, the sacred ministers may be vested in the color rose, the altar may be decorated with flowers and other festive items (although still not as fully as it will be at Christmastime), and the organ may be played as usual. The Church can no longer contain Her joy of expectation at the coming of the Christ.
We should take a moment to look at the entire Scripture passage from which this antiphon is taken. It is Paul's letter to the Philippians, and in it he says:
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (4:4-7)."
These words may hearken us back to the meditations of the past two Sundays in which we placed our trust in our Lord, Who came for our salvation, Who comes to us now to perfect that salvation, and Who will come at the end of time to complete our salvation. We have no reason to be afraid on this earth, for if Christ had wanted us to fear His coming, He would have come first as He will at the end of time, in glory and majesty. Instead He came first as a newborn babe, so that we cannot help but look on Him with love.
If our trust in Jesus Christ, then, is perfect, we will have no need to be anxious for anything. As our Lord said, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him (Matthew 6:8)," God will provide us with what we need in order to serve Him. We may be sure that God will never assign us with an impossible task, though it may be impossible without His grace, for it is through the task He wishes to draw us to Himself.
It is true that Christ came to earth as a newborn babe so that we may be drawn to love Him. Nevertheless, throughout His earthly life and even now, as He reigns in our hearts, He challenges us. It is said of the Lord:
"He is like a refiner's fire and like the fullers' soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the LORD. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years. Then I will draw near to you for judgment (Malachi 3:2-5)."
These challenges that Christ gives us throughout our earthly life should be the very cause for our great joy. They have been allotted to us for our salvation! Through these trials, these penances which we embrace in a special way during Advent, we are offered a method for working out our salvation. We might even say, in a sense, our penance offers us another means through which Christ comes to us.
The suffering which God allots to us throughout our earthly life is given to us for two reasons. First, to purify us of our sins, imperfections, and inordinate affections, for self-discipline and suffering (when embraced as a penance), reorders the soul and the body to its proper orientation towards love of God and neighbor in all things. Secondly, through suffering we encounter Christ, for He came among us as one Who suffered, so that we may recognize Him in our own sufferings, and gain the grace to bear our trials through His Spirit.
We rejoice in this present age, this vale of tears, then, because Christ is near to us! Whenever we suffer we are able to be drawn closer to Christ. True, suffering is unpleasant, but it is not the unpleasantness we rejoice in, but we find joy in the effect. St. Paul told the Philippians to, "Let all men know your forbearance." It is our duty to show Christ to the world, and we can only encounter Him fully if we take up our Cross. To think otherwise is to present the world with a Christ without the Cross, and this is not the Christ of the Gospel. This is not the Christ of Whom John the Baptist preached. This is not a Christ Who can save us, and thus, this is not a Christ we should rejoice in.
This is the reason so many of the saints despised all the pleasures of this world, and loved penance. Not only did it purify them of their faults, but it drew them closer to Christ! It then makes sense why they were so joyous in their suffering. It now makes sense to us why the martyrs could go to their deaths singing Alleluia and Hosanna! It makes sense why St. Irenaeus of Antioch forbid his people to attempt to save him from his death in the Colosseum. They were all experiencing Christ, and feared above all to be drawn away from Him.
As the last days of Advent draw near, when we will prepare for the coming of Christ with a renewed and an extra fervor, let us consider this joy of the Cross. It is not too late to open our hearts more fully to the Lord! It is not too late to begin an Advent penance if we have not already done so! It does not have to be large, but this penance will draw us closer to Christ; it will allow Him to come to us in a more profound way.
And lastly, though I have said it many times already, it is always worth repeating. As we encounter Christ is our suffering and trials, we are awakened to the truth of what miserable creatures we are without the grace of God. We see just how low we may sink when Christ is not with us. As we do penance, then, this reality should become more and more realized in us. This is not a cause for sorrow though, for we should not fall into despair. Jesus Christ has left us a means whereby we may gain the grace to be raised above our miserable state, and these are the Sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Confession.
In this season of Advent, as we have a special recourse to this Sacrament, let us truly beg the Lord that it may be not only a special source of joy to us, but that through it, and the penances we are assigned through it, we may be given special and unique graces that will prevent us from ever falling back into sin again. As one priest recently told me at the end of my Confession, "Christ has given you back your peace." And this is so true! In the Sacrament of Penance, Jesus restores us to the life of grace and He gives us the grace so that we may have, "the peace of God, which passes all understanding," and, which will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, so that we can receive Him in a special way at Christmas, so that we may rejoice in Him as He comes among us now, and so that we will be ready to welcome Him at the end of time when He inaugurates His triumphant reign.
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