Today we notice the use of a liturgical color that is only used on two occasions throughout the entire liturgical year: the color rose. Rose is reserved for two occasions: the celebrations of Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent; and today, the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday.
The word Gaudete is the Latin word that means ‘joy’ and the name Gaudete Sunday originally comes from the beginning of today’s Holy Mass, “Gaudete in Domino semper…”, “Rejoice in the Lord always”.
Up until now, our season of Advent has been a bit muted as we focused more on the preparation of ourselves, our hearts, our minds for the fullness of joy that comes with the occasion of Christmas. We surely have seen and experienced how expectant mothers and fathers planned in their families, among their friends and acquaintances; how they did all they could to prepare for the eventual birth of the baby, their bundle of joy, their blessing from God. Although it must have been challenging and difficult at times to prepare everything, especially for those who are first-time parents, we can see the energy and joy in them, that hidden joy in expectation.
This is the same joy that we are focusing on today, on this Gaudete Sunday. We do not yet celebrate the fullness of the joy that comes with Christmas, just as it is inappropriate for us to pre-empt Christmas celebrations by our revelry and partying during this season of Advent. On this Gaudete Sunday, we take a short break to the penitential and somber nature of Advent and focus on the expectant joy of looking forward to the fullness of the joy of Christmas.
The joy of Christmas, according to what many of us have experienced, is the joy of prosperity, of celebrations and parties, of often lavish and elaborate Christmas lunches and dinners, of going to multiple celebrations, of all the decorations we put in place to prepare for the parties that we are going to have, and of all the gifts we are going to exchange with one another. To us, Christmas is joyful because it is a time of merrymaking and enjoying ourselves, looking at all the beautiful decorations and receiving all the satisfactions, be it for our stomach, or for our other desires.
That is the problem with how we celebrate Christmas and how we prepare ourselves for Christmas. We have often been swayed too much by the currents of the world, in how the secular Christmas celebration is perceived. It is indeed sad to note that while Christmas is a very popular celebration worldwide, at the same time, it is also one of the most secularized and commercialized celebrations of our faith.
We just need to look all around us, and we can easily see all the usual paraphernalia and items associated with Christmas, from all the lights and decorations, the Christmas trees and the ubiquitous Santa Claus, the Christmas candies and cakes, bells and all other things we are surely very familiar with, every time we celebrate Christmas. Yet, in all these, many of us have forgotten what the true joy of Christmas truly is.
The practices of using lights and the Christmas tree originally came from the desire to honor Christ Himself, as He is the Light of the world, the Light that comes to vanquish the darkness present in the world; and He is the Lord of life, ever living and He has vanquished death by His resurrection, symbolized by the Christmas tree.
In many countries where our Christian faith traditionally existed, the time of Christmas coincided with the peak of the winter season (in the Northern Hemisphere). Christmas happened just after the winter solstice, the time of the longest night in the year. The darkness and the cold that winter brings usually cause most of the vegetation and plants to become barren, but not for the evergreen trees used for the Christmas trees. This again symbolizes Christ and the Light He is bringing to the darkened world, and the hope and joy of a new life He is bringing with Him, overcoming the darkness of sin and death.
A lot of our Christmas traditions in fact have origins from the desire to honor Christ, and to expect the joyful coming of Christ; but in the twists of time, the meaning and purpose have been overlooked and forgotten. In the end, what we have is a twisted, materialistic, hedonistic and self-serving celebration that feeds instead our ego, pride and greed within us.
We are familiar with the figure of Santa Claus. We know him as the figure who comes bearing gifts for children during the Christmas time. But we end up becoming greedy for the gifts and for the many goods we expect to enjoy during this time of celebration and ignore the original model for Santa Claus, St. Nicholas of Myra, a renowned saint, whose love and charity for those who had little or nothing was truly remarkable.
Instead of focusing on what we are to receive, how about if we instead be inspired by what St. Nicholas of Myra did, in how he gave generously to the poor and those who had little to celebrate? Instead of expecting to receive even more when we already have plenty, how about if we instead share the joy we have with those who have less than us, and even more for those who do not have any joy at all?
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us not forget that there are many out there who cannot celebrate Christmas in the way that we do. There are those who must celebrate in hiding or in fear because of persecutions, in places where Christmas cannot be celebrated openly. In those places, every day may even be a time of life or death for some of them, and we need to keep them in mind, as we prepare for the joy of Christmas.
Today, let us all rediscover for ourselves what the true joy of Christmas is for us, and realize that behind all the merrymaking and the happy celebrations we are preparing, we often forget the One for whom we ought truly to be joyful for, for Christ, Our Lord, the One born and celebrated in Christmas. Let us all turn ourselves towards Him and put Him once again at the center of our celebrations this Christmas.
Let us be generous in giving and in sharing our Christmas joy with everyone around us and be mindful especially for the needy and for all those who have not been able to celebrate the joy of Christmas for various reasons. Let us be the bearers of Christ’s joy and bring the light of hope He has brought into our midst, that each one of us can be the sources of joy for our families and friends, for those who are around us, and for the poor and the needy in our midst. May the upcoming joy of Christmas be the true joy that inspire us all, to be ever more devoted and loving to God, Our loving Father. Amen.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!