3rd Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday

Liturgy of the Word:

Is. 35:1-6, 10;

Ps. 146:6-7, 8;

Jas. 5:7-10;

Mt. 11:2-11.

Some Notes on Gaudete Sunday:

The 3rd Sunday of Advent is called “Gaudete Sunday” from the first word of the Entrance Antiphon or “Introit.” “Gaudete in Domino semper iterum dico, gaudete.” “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice” (Phil. 4:4-5).

The season of Advent originated as a fast of 40 days in preparation for Christmas, commencing on the day after the feast of St. Martin (12 November). That is why it was called “St. Martin’s Lent” as early as the 4th century.

In the 9th century, the duration of Advent was reduced to four weeks. By the 12th century, the fast had been replaced by simple abstinence. The Gregorian Sacramentary was the earliest to provide Masses for the Sundays of Advent. Advent, a penitential season, was a counterpart to Lent. The middle (or 3rd) Sunday of Advent corresponds with “Laetare Sunday” or Mid-Lent Sunday. Flowers were used, the organ was played, rose-colored vestments were worn for Mass — all still observed today. Gaudete Sunday is also called “Rose Sunday.”

Gaudete Sunday, therefore, like Laetare Sunday, marks a break in the penitential season. The rose-colored candle, the Gaudete candle or the candle of joy, in the Advent Wreath is lit today. It expresses the joy that we experience as we draw closer to the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Gaudete Sunday focuses on the nearness of the Lord’s 1st coming and not on his 2nd. The Introit, “Gaudete in Domino semper,” expresses the joy of expectation. The Lord is now near and close at hand.

St. Thomas Aquinas said that Christian joy is an effect of the virtue of love and an act of the will.

Pope Francis said Gaudete Sunday is the “Sunday of joy,” and people should think of all the blessings to come rather than fret about the things still to prepare for Christmas. True lasting joy comes from God. “All seek joy,” wrote St. John Chrysostom, “but it is not found on earth.” Lasting joy comes from above.

The Readings today deal with rejoicing in the Lord as well as the mission of John the Baptist.

The Epistle invites us to rejoice and bids us prepare the coming of the Lord with prayers, supplication, and thanksgiving. The Gospel warns us, in the words of John the Baptist, that the Lamb of God is even now in our midst, though we appear to know him not.

In essence, therefore, Gaudete Sunday is a pivotal moment in the Advent Season. It encapsulates the dual nature of Advent — a time for reflection and repentance, balanced with anticipation and rejoicing in the promise of redemption. It reminds us that the source of our joy is not found in material things but in our relationship with God and the fulfillment of his promise. It serves as a reminder that, even in the midst of our Christmas preparations, there is joy to be found in the expectation of the Savior’s arrival.

1st Reading, Is. 35: 1-6, 10 --- It opens with a prophecy that the desert region will rejoice and sing and bloom with abundant flowers because the glory of the Lord, the splendor of God, will appear. The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf will be cleared, the lame will leap, the tongue of the mute will sing. Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return and enter Zion with great joy. The prophecy concerns the return of the Jews from exile. But the prophecy also refers to the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, who will perform miracles, and ransom God’s people from sin.

2nd Reading, Jas. 5:7-10. James exhorts us to be patient until the coming of the Lord. We are to strengthen our faith because the coming of the Lord is near. The Judge is standing before the gates. And so, we must live in harmony with one another.

Gospel, Mt. 11:2-11. In the 1st part, John the Baptist, who is in prison, sends messengers to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?” Jesus tells them to report to John what they had seen — the miracles that Isaiah had said about the coming of the Messiah (our 1st Reading).

In the second part, Jesus pays tribute to John the Baptist. John is more than a prophet. He is the fulfillment of Malachi 3:1, “Behold, I am sending my messenger before you.” “Among those born of women, there has been none greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

We are truly blessed because we get to live in the age that Jesus has inaugurated and to share in the many blessings as part of the mystical Body of Christ.

Prayer — O God, you see how your people faithfully await the feast of the Lord’s Nativity. Enable us, we pray, to attain the joy of so great a salvation and to celebrate them always with solemn worship and glad rejoicing, through Christ our Lord. Amen.