Rise in splendor, shake off your sleep. Put on your robes of Joy, and in the morning, you will see the glory of the Lord. This Sunday is Gaudete Sunday which takes its name from the chanted Latin introit: Gaudete in Domino semper; meaning “Rejoice in the Lord always” from Paul’s letter to the Philippians.  

I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to get going on these cold mornings and go through my usual morning routine. It’s cold and dark, and often raining, and world news is discouraging, but in the midst of the darkness of December, along comes Gaudete Sunday to turn our hearts and our minds towards joy. It’s important because we are created for joy but sometimes, we need to be reminded of that.

We could argue that there’s not a lot to be joyful about in our world today but isn’t that the point. God became incarnate, came into the world as a helpless baby, came as a human being to live among us, not to magically make all problems disappear but to share our burdens, to be with us in our grief, in our helplessness, in our woundedness, in our struggles, to share in our humanity; both the joys and the challenges.

The spiritual writer Henri Nouwen put it like this:

God came to us to join us on the road, to listen to our story, and to help us realize that we are not walking in circles but moving towards the house of peace and joy. This is the great mystery of Christmas that continues to give us comfort and consolation: we are not alone on our journey. The God of love who gave us life sent Jesus to be with as at all times and in all places, so that we never have to feel lost in our struggles but always can trust that he walks with us… Christmas is the renewed invitation not to be afraid and to let him whose love is greater than our own hearts and minds can comprehend – be our companion.

We don’t find God; God comes to us…. exactly as we are with all our hurts and struggles, our failures, our grief, and our loneliness. This is reason enough to be joyful today. And if we are open, we will find glimmers, sparks of joy in all sorts of places. 

So, as we continue walking to Bethlehem, we come as we are, wounded, hurting, burdened, imperfect. What comfort is there for the empty and broken places in our lives?  In a word, Jesus: he comes to be with us on our journey as we walk towards the light that will heal us and make us whole.

So, I invite you today, whatever your circumstances, whatever worries or anxieties you carry, to “lighten up” literally, to be a person who is light for others, a joy-bringer who points the way to Bethlehem and the one who is “The Light”, the source of all our joy, and to tell you how important it is to practice joy, to seize joyful moments and to create them for one another.

Gaudete Sunday is a time when we begin to sing some joyful hymns and anticipate Christmas. The Lord is very near! It’s a day to remember that it doesn’t all depend on us and thank goodness for that. The heavy apocalyptic readings and calls to repentance in the last few weeks have added to the sense of walking in the darkness. But we have also been reminded that there are lights along the way to help us:  just a little bit of light can help us to take the next few steps in front of us.  Our first candle reminded us that we are people of hope: many people will find hope a strange thing in these challenging times, but we have our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus the Christ, trusting that he is leading us, even in the darkness.  The second candle is for peace, reminding us that we are to be peacemakers in a world that is so much in need of it. Today’s candle as we have already noted, is for joy: inviting us to be joy makers in a world that has too much sadness.

We will not be finished journeying until we reach our eternal home. Until then, we are a people on the move, called constantly to grow and change, to surrender, to leave some things behind, to put down whatever is holding us back from being God’s people, a light in the world.

So, beloved people of God “Rise in Splendor, shake of your sleep and put on your robes of joy!  Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

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