The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday. This is the Sunday that we wear pink vestments and light the pink candle on the Advent wreath as a sign of our joy.  Gaudete is the Latin word for "let us rejoice."  These words are found in the Entrance Antiphon for this day, which are taken from Philippians 4:4-5: "Gaudete in Domino semper" ("Let us rejoice in the Lord always").
 
Today I rejoice in our Faith Community.  I rejoice in your generosity, especially to projects like the Christmas Boxes.  I rejoice that so many of you are actively involved in our parish.   I rejoice in the strength we find as we celebrate God’s love in and through the Sacraments.  I was overjoyed to see the crowd that came to Confession last Monday night.  You are such good people.  And this weekend we rejoice to have Bishop Hartmayer present with us to celebrant the activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of Lilla Gillen as she receives the Sacrament of Confirmation.  Congratulations Lilla Mary Magdalene Gillen!!!
 
Blessed Julian of Norwich once wrote: The greatest joy we can give Almighty God, Is to live life joyfully.  The late Fr. Bernard Haring, one of the great Vatican II theologians once said: "The spirit of joy is an infallible sign that one is a Christian." The worst advertisement for Christianity is a gloomy pessimistic face
 
This has always been a challenge for me.  In my vocation as a priest it is important that I be social, but I am naturally somewhat introverted.  So I often have this very pensive, stern look on my face as my mind is trying to process things.  My childhood nickname was “Happy”.  When Sister Ann Williams, my eighth grade teacher, heard the other students calling me Happy she said to me, "If you are Happy, you ought to notify your face."
 
As Christians, our joy is not primarily rooted in the money or possessions we have or the job that we may love or having a great family. The sad reality of human existence is that any or all of these could be taken away in the twinkling of an eye. So when our joy is dependent on stuff outside of us, it rests on shaky ground.
 
As followers of Christ, our joy must be rooted in the belief and hopefully the felt experience that God loves us unconditionally and that Christ, through his resurrection has defeated suffering, evil and death. We will experience suffering, evil and death in this life but they do not have the last word. In the end if we are connected to Christ, we will defeat all the enemies of life and enter into the joy of the Lord.
 
There is so much that can rob us of joy.  The stress of trying to have the perfect Christmas can quickly rob us of joy.  Joy will always elude us if we are trying to be perfectionist and do not accept our own limits and the limitations of the world in general.  For example, in a perfect world everyone would get the perfect seat for the 4:00pm Mass on Christmas Eve, but that simply isn’t the reality.  We will have a wonderful celebration at 4pm with a children’s pageant within Mass but in my experience the first Mass of Christmas is always jammed packed.
 
So, in your plans to celebrate Christmas, think about what would be the most joyful Mass experience for your family.  Yes, the 4:00pm Mass does work well for many families.  But in addition to the 4:00 pm Mass on Christmas Eve, we’ve added a 6pm Mass that night that you might consider.  And in recent years I am happy to see that folks are returning to the old tradition of participating in Mass on Christmas Day.  Mass on Christmas Day will be at 10am.
 
Christmas Eve is next Sunday.  Next Saturday we will celebrate our normal vigil Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Advent.  And since there will be a schedule change next Sunday morning, I am hoping that you might consider attending the Saturday vigil Mass.  But then again many of you won’t want to miss the Sunday morning Mass.  There will only be one Mass in the morning for the Fourth Sunday of Advent at 10am and we will joyfully bring Robert Weber to the life giving waters of baptism at that Mass.
 
As I mentioned last Sunday, it isn’t right if you consider Mass next Sunday evening as a BOGO.  A good Catholic should joyfully attend both Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Advent and Mass for Christmas. Most of you are spiritually in good shape having gone to confession in Advent, so don’t mess up next weekend by being stingy about your Mass attendance. 
 
Finally, even though joy is not rooted in money, year-end contributions and your wonderful generosity to the parish offertory makes it easier for me “to notify my face that I am Happy.” I am most grateful for your generosity to your Faith Community at Christmas.
 
On the Way Home: On this Gaudete Sunday what about your Catholic faith gives you joy?  How do you experience that the Lord is near?
 
Fr. Jerry Ragan