Gaudete Sunday The Sunday of Joy

“Rejoice in the Lord always”. This Third Sunday of Advent is day of joy.  We rejoice the Christmas is near, but, we always rejoice because Jesus is a part of our lives everyday.  It is easy to let Christ be important only on the Feast of Christmas.  Unfortunately, for many, even Christ is left out of Christmas.  The focus of rejoicing is in the gifts, the parties and stuff.   For us Christians, we are joyful and rejoice because Jesus is alive in our hearts 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.  By choosing Jesus everyday, our joy will not end, even when life gets difficult.  Being a Christian is no guarantee that our lives will be easy; but, how we handle our struggles and difficulties will be different.  We see in the manger scene….a place filled with the smell of animals and hay,  a place hardly worth the birth of King, ….the dawn of salvation, the cause of our joy.  As we quickly approach the feast of Christmas, may our hearts be filled with the a joy that we know year round.  May the Christ whose birth we celebrate be the center of our lives and the cause of our joy.