Certain Sundays throughout the liturgical year have taken their names from the first word in Latin of the Introit or the entrance antiphon at Mass. Gaudete or Joy Sunday is one of these days. The traditions surrounding this Sunday go back as far as the fourth or fifth century, as does the season of Advent itself. Though less so, now, Advent was originally a forty-day penitential season like Lent. In fact, since there was a time that Advent began on November 12 (just after the Memorial of St. Martin of Tours), it was often called Saint Martin’s Lent.
Today, though not eliminated, the season’s penitential emphasis is lessened, it has become a season of anticipation for the first coming of Christ and a longing for His return. Just as we prepare to celebrate the Incarnation, the Word-made-flesh, on Christmas, so the Church also turns hearts, minds, and spirits towards the Lord’s Second Coming. Thus, the ecclesiastical world looks back in remembrance and forward in hope. The title Gaudete Sunday is derived from the word “gaudete”, which in turn comes from the Latin words gaudium (or joy) and gaudeo (or to rejoice or be glad). The title Gaudete is a paraphrase of a citation from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians (Phil 4:4-5); as mentioned earlier, it comes from the incipit or the opening words of the antiphon for the day: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near” (Lat. Gaudéte in Dómino semper: iterum dico, gaudéte. Dóminus enim prope est). The joy is the result of cultivating a spirit of expectation and eager preparation for the Solemnity of Christmas.
While there is joy in looking forward to the annual celebration of Christmas, there is also joy in recalling the birth of Jesus on the first Christmas. Such joy is heightened because the Child Jesus was born to save us from our sins (Mt 1:21b). Such joy also extends to anticipating the Lord’s Second Coming, either at the end of physical individual life or at the end of the world or Parousia. Those two endings are the time when believers will be given the crown of righteousness (2 Tm 4:8) and either a place in the Father’s house (Jn 14:2) to dwell with God and His angels and saints for all eternity or condemned to eternal damnation.
Advent is the season of preparing for the arrival of the Lord Jesus (both his first coming and his second coming), and by the third Sunday of Advent, the major portion of that holy season has taken place. Thus it is appropriate to rejoice as we see the ultimate goal of the season rapidly approaching: “The Lord is near.” On Gaudete Sunday, the season of Advent shifts its focus. During the first two weeks of Advent, the focus could be summed up in the phrase, “The Lord is coming.” But beginning, this weekend, with Gaudete Sunday until Advent is over, the summary might be, “The Lord is near.” This shift in emphasis is marked by a lighter, less somber mood along with a heightened sense of joyous anticipation.
Nature and dignity 