Rejoice in the Lord always, I shall say it again: rejoice! With these words from the Entrance Antiphon at the beginning of the Mass, we enter into the Third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete Sunday. “Gaudete” is the Latin word for Rejoice, the word that keeps popping up in the first reading today – “The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song.” What is there to rejoice? Ready or not, the Church heralds us today to intensify our advent preparation because we are now half way to one of the earth shaking events in human story – God’s incarnation, his coming in flesh.
The birth of the Child-King causes great rejoicing because eventually, when he grows up in the words of the evangelist Matthew, Jesus would have “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” These saving acts of Jesus would eventually find its peak or summit in his passion, death and resurrection, where this advent rejoicing would find its greatest fulfillment. Without looking too far, Easter (resurrection) will cap this advent rejoicing! In all of these, we can only be amazed and be awed with God’s abiding love and faithfulness. And because of this, we rejoice with hope!
As we reflect on who this Child-King is, we cannot just stay complacent and indifferent. True rejoicing, authentic gaudete, can only take place if we also embrace the very mission that Jesus started and take on the values that he espoused. Once this happens, we would not only rejoice because God has visited people but because God has already taken flesh in us. Rejoice in the Lord always, I shall say it again: rejoice! – Fr. Cary