A s the Church observes Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent, the liturgy invites the faithful to pause amid preparation and penance and rediscover the deeper meaning of Christian joy. Reflecting on this theme, Fr. Edmund Power highlights how rejoicing in the Lord is not rooted in comfort or ease, but in a living relationship with Christ.

The name Gaudete comes from the opening words of the day’s Entrance Antiphon, drawn from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” While such an exhortation may seem difficult in a world weighed down by conflict, uncertainty, and suffering, Fr. Power notes that Paul himself wrote these words from prison. His call to joy flowed not from favorable circumstances, but from an unshakable conviction that “to live is Christ.”

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