Gaudete Sunday 

   The third Sunday of advent is Gaudete Sunday.  Gaudete is Latin for rejoice.  It is a time to rejoice and take delight in the birth we are anticipating and the many blessings we have received and still receive from our Lord.  It is a time to be joyful and even childlike in the excitement of the season.

   St. Paul wrote, “Rejoice always; pray unceasingly.”  (1 Thess 5: 16 – 17).  Gaudete Sunday is to be a day of cheer and exultation; a day to keep in mind all that the Lord has done for us.  To give Him thanksgiving for His many gifts.

   Rejoice in the love He has shown, rejoice in the love we share with others.  Give thanks for friends both old and new who add great joy and happiness to our lives.  Offer Him our love and our devotion, asking that He guide us through this time exile and that He bring us to Himself when it is time for this life to be done.

   Next Sunday is Christmas Eve and the waiting will be over.  Let’s take this last week to be thankful and joyful.  Let us once again take the time to look inside ourselves and root out those things that might draw us away from our Lord.  Let us prepare ourselves to properly celebrate the greatest gift of all, the birth of our Savior.