The Joy of Gaudete Sunday
Summary of Headings
The Call to Rejoice
Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Rejoice. There's a reason why the Sunday is called Gaudete, why the emphasis is put upon the joy, the fact of the act of rejoicing that we should be performing. It seems a little contradictory considering the fact that we are in a time of penance and preparation for the coming of Christ, where we are supposed to be remembering those centuries and even millennia between original sin and the coming of Christ. where people were without grace, were without the ability to save themselves through their works and deeds, but rather had to rely on God in a very particular way. They didn't have the revelation that we have now with God. We are supposed to be entering more into that spirituality. But the reason for this purpose, the reason why we have this Sunday of rejoicing, is to remind ourselves that despite the fact that we are reminded of the Old Testament, despite the fact that we are suffering and hopefully offering things up in penance and preparation for the coming of Christ, the essential attitude and spirit of a Catholic is one of joy. Joy is a necessary element to our being Catholic. The very fact that we have the faith should be, enough reason for us to have true joy. So what is joy? Well, joy is the fruit of the Holy Ghost. It is not a virtue in and of itself. It is a fruit of the Holy Ghost. When we are confronted with something that we desire, we have an emotional, if you want to call it that, an emotional reaction to it and a rational reaction to it as well. So when something is presented to us and there is an obstacle to our achieving it, the automatic reaction, the instinctive reaction to that is one of either anger and frustration, in which case the anger can serve to overcome the obstacle to achieve the thing that we want, or sadness, depression, in which case, more often than not, there follows a sort of ennui, in which case we sit down and don't make an effort for the thing that we desired, but rather we simply bemoan. It's lost, that we are not able to acquire it. Joy is the response to when we finally achieve what it is that we want. And that is why, for us, it's important and essential to recall the fact that we should be joyful because we have achieved already the thing that we are supposed to desire beyond all things. And that is our Lord Jesus Christ. That is God. That is grace. We already have this. What we are celebrating with Christmas is his coming, absolutely. But he has already come to us. What we are trying to celebrate, what we are remembering in our sufferings and preparations for his coming is a way for us to try to let his presence within us come anew in a way that will overcome us completely so that we may live for him. Because, the fact of the matter is, his presence within us is habitual. That isn't always a good thing. We are just accustomed to the fact that God dwells within our souls. That God is willing to make our souls his home. That he wants to. And that he came and suffered and died for that purpose. We are accustomed to this fact. And as a result, we don't make an effort to try to go to the next stage. Very often there is a certain state of complacency. I already have the presence of God. I already have his grace within my soul. And so we don't really have to think about it anymore. But what God gives us in his grace is just the first step. Because that grace is supposed to be a seed that flourishes within our souls to the point that it actually takes us over. It possesses us. It overwhelms us. That is the point of having grace within our soul. But the fact that we actually possess him should bring us such joy and such peace. The peace of God which surpasses all understanding. Keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. The final words of this epistle. Peace, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, is the tranquility. The tranquility of order. It's the tranquility, the peace of mind that happens when everything is as it should be. The only way that that can possibly happen is when there is order. And the author of all order is God himself. So again, theoretically, we have everything we need to be at perfect peace in our souls. By the mere fact of possessing joy itself. Peace itself. Order itself. Who is God? We are supposed to know the fact that God dwells within us. Or he desires to dwell within us. And that should inspire us to use that presence so that he may put order in our souls and we may have peace. And having that peace, we have joy. That is how we are supposed to utilize the gift of God's presence within our soul. That is how we are supposed to actually receive him and actually live with his presence within us. There is a simple problem. Complacency, as mentioned before. We become so complacent with the fact that God so desires our salvation. And he is willing to give us so many chances and opportunities for our salvation. That he does not actually make... That we do not make an effort to actually let him possess us. To take us over. But rather we are content to put him on the shelf and kind of leave him over there while we attend to the really important matters of our lives. But that is not why we are here. We are not here to simply get along in our lives and just keep a toehold in the spiritual life. We are here for heaven. And the only path to heaven is our Lord Jesus Christ. And the only way that we can utilize that path is if he starts taking possession of us more and more each and every day. And the only way to do that is to start detaching ourselves from the things of this world. Detachment has been a very big part in the topics of the sermons during this Advent. Because it is a necessary thing. One aspect of Advent is we have to put everything in order. Put everything back where it needs to be. And that means we have to put God at the very top of everything that is important to us. One of the reasons why we do not have joy. True joy that cannot be taken away by the mere fact that we possess God is because we do not give him enough importance. The joy that we feel is when we possess something we desperately want. When we want something. We really desire it. And the more that we desire it, the more joy we have when we possess it. But because we allow ourselves to be dragged down through so many of the concerns and preoccupations of the world and of our day to day lives. Because we let ourselves get swamped and swept away by so many of the aspects of the mundane existence that we live. We do not give nearly enough importance to the fact that we actually live. We possess heaven itself in our souls. Or that we have the capacity to at least. We do not give him nearly enough importance. And that is something that must change. That is something that we must focus on during Advent. So how do we do that? How do we start changing that aspect of our lives? How do we start becoming more desirous of God? How do we start finding true joy in our lives? We start by putting him back where he is supposed to be. At the very top of the list of the things that really matter in our lives. One of the aspects of true joy, true goodness, true peace that comes from God is that it is unshakable. It is not an emotion that can be exploited. When we possess something we have dearly longed for. Whether it is a job or a career or an object or money or whatever it is. There is always going to be concern, fear, worry around it. Because of the fact that it can be taken away. We can't take it with us when we die. And it is not eternal. By that mere fact it can be exploited. It can be torn away from us. It can be removed. And so therefore it is not stable. Happiness and joy that comes from God can only ever be stable. Because God is absolute. And so therefore the joy that we have knowing that we possess God also must be perfectly stable and absolute. Again, it is not an ephemeral emotion. It doesn't just happen when things are great. But then when things are difficult. We immediately fall into depression. Or sadness or anger. But rather it is something that is stable. Constant. Because the presence of God is stable and constant. While ever growing or supposed to be ever growing within our souls. So therefore that is the first thing we have to do. Is to stabilize this joy in our souls. We have to remind ourselves of the fact of God's presence. He is truly here. He is truly present. He lives within my soul thanks to grace. That is Him. And so therefore we are willing to do anything to keep that within our soul. And we find great comfort by that presence within our soul. But again, that comes from putting Him back at the top of things that are important in our lives. When we are sad or suffering. When we have a cross. When things are bad. When we are sick. When the whole world seems to be going to hell. Then we must have the stability of joy knowing that God is truly present. And He doesn't let us down or abandon us at any moment during all of this vicissitude. During all of these problems. We know that God is absolutely present. And that that doesn't change regardless of everything else. That brings us a stability in the joy that we have. It also is important to remember when things are good, that even though they may get taken away from us, that God is still going to be there. And that those things, as wonderful as they are, are mere shadows of the reality of the good that God is going to give us. That reminder of His presence and the future joy that awaits us. Will also maintain the stability of this joy within our soul despite everything. When there is persecution and trial, we see the examples of the saints who have suffered horrible crosses. Or have gone through terrible tortures to be able to bring witness to their faith. And yet they did so singing and joyful. How was that possible? It was because they knew that they possessed God. And that is why they died. And that is for whom they lived and died. That is something we desperately need to remind ourselves of. We live for God. And we must die for God. Our entire lives must be for Him. With Him. And in Him. And there cannot be any possibility of wavering on that point. But in order for that to happen, we have to make God the most important thing in our lives. So if we are going to contemplate what we are supposed to do for the rest of this Advent. Let's focus on really growing in this desire for God. Because if we can see, if we can get one thing out of the liturgy. Week by week in Advent is that the closer we get to Christmas. The more anticipation and the more longing there is within the church's soul for the coming of Christ. And like I said, just because we possess Christ doesn't mean He stops coming to us. He opens up more to us the more that we surrender ourselves to Him. Because that is the next stage in everything. We surrender. We let go. We have to surrender our lives to God. And that is the focus of Advent. If we want to know the joy of being able to offer penance. Of being able to suffer with true joyfulness. If we want to know the secret of true peace. A soul is going to come from this. Surrendering to God. And letting Him run our lives. But again, the reason we need to do so is because we long for Him above all things. We desire Him above all things. We love Him above all things. In order for that to happen we have to truly appreciate the tremendous charity and love God shows us. Each and every day. The mere fact that we were able to get up in the morning. Go to church. The mere fact that we exist. The mere fact that we are able to see Him. Touch Him. Perceive Him. In such tiny and infinitesimal little ways. But such important and beautiful ways too. Such powerful ways that we can actually know that God is truly present. Know that He loves us. And know that He is sacrificing Himself for us. So that we can surrender to Him. Just knowing that. That should be more than enough. For us to completely let go of ourselves. And finally put God first in our lives. So that we can cleanse ourselves of all the attachments to things of this world. That are holding us back from truly appreciating the presence of God. Which Christmas represents so beautifully. So that He can take possession of our lives. Live. Not us as Saint Paul says. I live. Now not I. But Christ within me. That is how we are supposed to live. Totally dominated by Christ. To the point that we live and serve Him in everything that we do. So that we can be faithful. And be eternally united to Him in heaven. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Summary
Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Rejoice. There's a reason why the Sunday is called Gaudete, why the emphasis is put upon the joy, the fact of the act of rejoicing that we should be performing. Joy is the fruit of the Holy Ghost. It is not a virtue in and of itself. It is a fruit of the Holy Ghost. When we are confronted with something that we desire, we have an emotional, if you want to call it that, an emotional reaction to it and a rational reaction to it as well. There is a simple problem. Complacency, as mentioned before. We become so complacent with the fact that God so desires our salvation. And he is willing to give us so many chances and opportunities for our salvation.