rose rejoicing sunday

Tomorrow we light the pink candle to begin the third week of Advent. Last year my Advent illiteracy became evident when I asked, “Why one pink candle?” The more I learn about the “pink candle” the more I grow to appreciate the theme of joy represented this third week of Advent. The following is a summary for “Rose Rejoicing Sunday” taken from my favorite church calendar website: http://www.crivoice.org/cyadvent.html.

"The third candle, usually for the Third Sunday of Advent, is traditionally Pink or Rose, and symbolizes Joy at the soon Advent of the Christ. In the four weeks of Advent the third Sunday came to be a time of rejoicing that the fasting was almost over (in some traditions it is called Gaudete Sunday, from the Latin word for "rejoice"). The shift from the purple of the Season to pink or rose for the third Sunday Advent candles reflected this lessening emphasis on penitence as attention turned more to celebration of the season.

The rose candle is lit on the third Sunday of Advent, referred to as "Gaudete" or "Rose Rejoicing" Sunday (from the epistle and introit which speak of "rejoicing in the Lord always"). "Rose Rejoicing Sunday" shows how anticipated joy over our Savior's coming breaks through all our serious Advent preparation."

As I begin to prepare for the Third Sunday of Advent, Rose Rejoicing Sunday, I discovered an inspiring homily by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann. This homily on John the Baptist really continued to connect the dots for me in understanding deeper hope and joy because of Jesus. Here is an expert that especially grabbed me….

The Power to Hope and the Capacity for Joy Always and Everywhere
"I was reminded recently of the remarkable power of Jesus to give His disciples joy and hope, even in the most dreadful circumstances, while reading Advent of the Heart, a collection of Advent homilies and reflections by the German Jesuit, Father Alfred Delp. Like John the Baptist, Father Delp found himself incarcerated for his opposition to the Nazis. On February 2, 1945 Father Delp would be executed, as was John the Baptist, for his refusal to compromise the truth.

Writing with handcuffs around his wrists from his prison cell in December of 1944, Father Delp reflected on the meaning of this Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday: “The conditions for true joy have nothing to do with the conditions of our exterior life, but consist of man’s interior frame of mind and competence, which makes it possible now and again for him to sense, even in adverse circumstances, what life is basically about.”

Father Delp concluded this prison meditation on joy, fully aware of the probability of his own imminent execution, by noting that the many sources of joy found in this world can all “fall silent.” He asserted that life’s meaning and the source of enduring joy was not to be found in the world’s fleeting pleasures. Instead, Father Delp wrote: “. . . man becomes healthy through the order of God and in nearness to God. That is also where he becomes capable of joy and happiness.”

We are called to be witnesses of hope in a world that provides so many reasons for despair. Our task is not to teach theories but to provide living testimonies of the power of the Risen Jesus alive within us to give us hope and joy amidst all the difficulties and struggles of this world."
For the entire homily see: http://www.cuf.org/Homilies/Archive/121607.asp