On this Gaudete Sunday, at the midpoint of this Advent Season, we pause and rejoice. We rejoice because God is truly with us. So we are no longer afraid, but offer up our prayers, thanksgivings, and petitions to the God who fills us with His peace as only He can. It is He who loves us, and rejoices over us greatly. And we praise Him in kind that He is God our Savior, who is ever near to us. Being so near compels us to live out the joy of this relationship, as we extend mercy to others, to show them that God is truly near, coming into our world, into our hearts. In such spirit, John the Baptist compelled the people to alter their ways who asked him what they should do, and so we are challenged.
The most recent time these readings were proclaimed was the Sunday after the tragic shooting at Newtown, CT. In the midst of that heartbreak, the liturgy proclaimed these readings to us, reminding us that our reason for joy is not fixed by what happens to us, but on the reality of who God is. That is truly reason for joy.
I furthermore rejoice because I mark now 2 full years of writing these reflections, which I started for the occasion of Gaudete Sunday 2013.
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