It's not been a difficult year, it's been much worse. Everything has been postponed, all of life put on hold in one way or another or muted. The call of the Third Sunday of Advent, aka Gaudete Sunday is to stop postponing Joy, experience it now in the midst of pain and darkness. Advent is a penitential season where we worship in a minor key as it were, we put in abeyance the celebration of the birth of Jesus as we await His coming again. We acknowledge the need of Him today, in our current situation and we long for that coming again. Gaudete Sunday is named after the first words to be spoken or sung in liturgical worship today, Rejoice in the Lord always. The word rejoice, in latin, is Gaudete. Gaudete Sunday says, let's take a break from penitence today and rejoice. Are you ready to take a break from the world and it's problems today? Rejoice for what it but even more for what will be!
