Gaudete! The Time to Rejoice as Christmas Nears

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Lord, you have blessed your land; you have turned away the captivity of Jacob.”

                                                            —Introit for the Third Sunday of Advent

The antiphon above, with which Catholics and some other Christians will begin their worship today, is an important one. Consisting of words drawn from Paul’s letter to the Philippians and the 85th Psalm, it addresses a big need that many feel during the season of Advent, in which Christians are supposed to be preparing joyfully for the glorious celebration of one of the greatest mysteries in Christian faith: that God, who knows no limits, became one of the human race, limited as we are.

Nor did He do so only as an adult. No, like all of us, He started out as a tiny one in the womb of a mother and was born, small and weak. G.K. Chesterton marveled that “the hands that had made the sun and stars were too small to reach the huge heads of the cattle.”

And yet, at this time of year, it is very easy to take our eyes off this truth. Advent means “coming,” but the rush and hurry mean that we are usually going, going, going.

We’ve barely cleaned up from Thanksgiving when it is suddenly time to prepare for the celebrations starting on December 25. For many people, the stress of preparation and shopping, the literal darkness that descends earlier each afternoon, and, for many, the realization that this year’s celebrations will have absent family or friends can make this time before Christmas a time in which anxiety does nag at us.

In the midst of the hubbub and worry, keeping one’s internal eye on the real reason for the season can be tough. Sounding more like Tiny Tim than Ebenezer Scrooge might be a task requiring greater acting skills than we can muster. This is why it is good that the tradition of a season of preparation for Christmas also includes a specific day on which the reminder to rejoice is given loudly and clearly.

It may be useful for those who are having a difficult time to think about the fact that this can be useful. After all, God uses the trials and difficulties we face, big and small, to both discipline us and to reveal in us His own strength. Advent, traditionally understood, was a season of fasting to prepare for the great feast of Christmas.

Though many don’t know this, the season of Advent began as a kind of parallel season to that of Lent, in which Christians spent forty days focusing on repentance, self-denial, and taking up the “crosses” given to them in order to prepare for the joyful celebration of Christ’s rising to new life at Easter. Eastern Christians, who still have an organized time of fasting, sometimes refer to Advent as the “little Lent” in contrast to the “great Lent” preceding Good Friday and Easter.

That penitential and ascetical character of Advent is why the third Sunday is known as Gaudete Sunday. “Gaudete” is the Latin word for “rejoice,” which is the first word of that antiphon at the top of this article. The colors of liturgical vestments and decorations like Advent candles, either violet or blue (as some Anglicans and Lutherans use), are exchanged this week for rose. Rose, for the colorblind and for men who only know a few colors, is pinkish, like that of the sun as it peeks out at dawn. The very color is a reminder that the Son of God, who is also called the Sun of Righteousness, comes just as the sun does at dawn—when it is darkest.

While the planned ascetical aspect of the season is not as prominent for most Christians today, the difficulties and darknesses of December, large or small, are tests of faith. The Epistle of James tells Christians the attitude to have in these moments of darkness: “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:3-4).

Whether our time this December has been fun and relaxed or stressful and painful, now is the time to rejoice, for the Lord is indeed “near at hand” to all of us, even—especially!—those who are being tried and tested in ways small or great. We can give thanks that God is working in us and on us to perfect and complete us in ways that we might not be able to imagine—but that faith assures us are wise and kind.

The message for today is to hang in there. Even more than that, take joy in it all, even if you’re not particularly happy about your circumstances. Jesus is the Lord who works good no matter the circumstances. Gaudete! Rejoice!

David P. Deavel teaches at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. A past Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute, he is a Senior Contributor at The Imaginative Conservative. Follow him on X (Twitter) @davidpdeavel.