3rd Sunday of Advent

To The Advent Epiphany Community 

The Shepherd’s Candle (The Candle of Joy): Joy at the Soon-Coming of Jesus (Luke 2:10–12) 

(Third Sunday of Advent: Gaudete Sunday, Matthew 11:2-11, 14 December 2025) 

The Sunday of Joy: The Soul Becomes a Cradle for Christ through Rejoicing, Praying, and Giving Thanks 

On this Third Sunday of Advent, called the Sunday of Joy, the liturgy invites us to welcome the spirit with which all this happens, that is, precisely, joy. Saint Paul invites us to prepare for the coming of the Lord, by assuming three attitudes. Listen carefully: three attitudes. First, constant joy; second, steadfast prayer; third, continuous thanksgiving. Constant joy, steadfast prayer and continuous thanksgiving. Joy, prayer and gratitude are three attitudes that prepare us to experience Christmas in an authentic way. Joy, prayer and gratitude. Everyone together, let us say: joy, prayer and gratitude. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 2017) 

Dearly Beloved Brothers and Sisters, On this Third Sunday of Advent—Gaudete Sunday—the Church pauses, mid-journey, to breathe. The rose candle is lit not to deny the darkness of the world but to announce that the darkness does not have the final word. The liturgy calls this the Sunday of Joy, not because all is well around us, but because the One who is Joy draws near. Joy, then, is not a feeling we manufacture; it is a reality we welcome. 

A young pilgrim once visited an old monk who lived in a small hermitage on the edge of a desert. The young man was discouraged—life had grown heavy, prayer felt dry, and he saw little to be grateful for. He said to the monk: Father, I’m trying to prepare for Christ, but the world seems too dark. How do you keep your heart joyful? The monk smiled, reached into his pocket, and placed three small stones into the pilgrim’s hand. 

Every morning, the monk said: I hold these stones for a moment and ask three simple questions: First, what gives me joy today? Second, what must I pray for today? Third, what can I thank God for today? 

Then I put the stones back into my pocket. Throughout the day, whenever I feel their weight, I remember those three moments with God. And when the sun sets, I return to the stones again. By then, they feel lighter—not because they have changed, but because I have. 

The pilgrim looked puzzled. So, the stones teach you joy, prayer, and gratitude? The monk nodded. No, my son. They simply remind me that God is already giving me joy, already listening to my prayer, already filling my life with gifts I fail to notice. The stones don’t change the day—they change the heart that lives it. The young man left the hermitage with the stones in his pocket. And though nothing around him changed—the desert, the heat, the long road—something inside him did. He discovered what the monk meant: that joy, prayer, and gratitude are not extraordinary tasks but simple, daily openings through which Christ quietly enters. 

Dear Friends, Pope Francis beautifully reminds us that the liturgy invites us today to embrace the spirit with which all of Advent unfolds—joy. And Saint Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, gives us the spiritual architecture of this joy: constant joy, steadfast prayer, continuous thanksgiving. These are not merely pious sentiments. They are three attitudes—three interior disciplines—that prepare the human heart to receive Christ in an authentic way. Let us reflect on each of them. 

Constant Joy: The Courage to Live with an Open Heart-Joy, in the Christian sense, is not superficial optimism or emotional brightness. Joy is the deep assurance that God is present, God is active, God is faithful. Philosophers like Augustine would say that joy is the echo of God’s presence in the soul. Aquinas calls joy the fruit of charity—the natural overflow of a heart aligned with God’s love. 

To live with constant joy does not mean ignoring our wounds. It means believing that our wounds are not abandoned. It means trusting that Christ is not simply coming to us, but coming for us. Christian joy is courageous. It opens the heart even when the world tempts us to close it. It allows us to say, “Even now, even here, God is at work.” Joy is not the denial of suffering. Joy is the defiance of despair. 

Steadfast Prayer: The Breath of the Interior Life-Saint Paul calls us to pray without ceasing. At first this sounds impossible, yet it reveals something profoundly human: we always live from some center, some orientation. Everyone has a continuous prayer, whether they know it or not. For some, it is anxiety; for others, ambition; for others, fear. But for the Christian, the continuous prayer is desire—desire for the God who desires us first. 

To pray without ceasing is to cultivate an interior posture that turns again and again toward God, like a sunflower turning toward the sun. It is the quiet lifting of the heart throughout the day. It is the refusal to let the noise outside drown out the whisper inside. Prayer steadies the soul. It gives weight to what is essential. It awakens us to the nearness of God, who does not wait for perfect words but always responds to honest hearts. 

Continuous Thanksgiving: The Vision to See God Already at Work-Gratitude is not the polite habit of saying thank you. It is a spiritual perception, an interior discipline, a way of seeing the world. Gratitude recognizes that everything is gift. Everything—life, breath, relationships, forgiveness, hope—is sheer grace. To give thanks continuously does not mean denying difficulties; it means refusing to let difficulties define reality. Gratitude opens the eyes of the heart. It helps us find traces of God where we once saw only emptiness. It keeps us humble, receptive, ready to welcome the God who loves to enter where hearts are grateful. Gratitude is, in many ways, the doorway of the Incarnation. Only grateful hearts can fully receive a God who comes in simplicity, in humility, in the smallness of a Child. 

Joy, Prayer, and Gratitude: The Way Christ Enters the Soul-These three attitudes—joy, prayer, and gratitude—form the climate in which Christmas becomes an interior event, not just an external celebration. They prepare us not merely to observe Christ’s birth but to welcome it within ourselves. Joy clears space in the heart, prayer directs the heart and gratitude expands the heart. Together they create an atmosphere where the Word can take flesh again—in us. Philosophically, these virtues shape the human person toward transcendence. Spiritually, they open the soul to grace. Pastorally, they help us navigate the complexities of life with hope. 

Today, as we draw near to Christmas, let us ask for these three gifts. Not the joy the world offers, which fades; but the joy Christ gives, which endures. Not the obligation of prayer, but the desire for communion. Not the occasional thank you, but the continuous recognition that God is always giving Himself to us. 

Cumulative Summary: Joy, Prayer, and Gratitude—The Threefold Path of Gaudete Sunday-Gaudete Sunday invites us to pause within Advent and rediscover the deep reason for Christian joy: not the absence of hardship, but the nearness of Christ. Joy, as the tradition teaches, is not a fleeting emotion but an inner assurance that God is present and active. Philosophically, it is the echo of the divine within the human soul; spiritually, it is the fruit of a heart touched by God’s love; pastorally, it is the strength that sustains believers amid life’s burdens. 

Saint Paul names three attitudes that prepare us to welcome Christ authentically: constant joy, steadfast prayer, and continuous thanksgiving. These attitudes do not float above life—they are formed in the very texture of daily existence. Joy opens the heart to God’s presence; prayer orients the heart toward God’s desire; gratitude enlarges the heart to recognize everything as gift. Together they shape a disposition where the Incarnation can be truly received. 

This threefold rhythm—joy, prayer, gratitude—articulates the fullness of Christian maturity. Philosophically, it integrates the human longing for meaning with the divine initiative of grace. Spiritually, it forms an inner atmosphere of hope. Pastorally, it offers a simple yet profound pathway for believers navigating the complexities of modern life. In the end, Gaudete Sunday proclaims that Christ comes not only into history but into the receptive human heart. Joy clears space, prayer centers our attention, and gratitude deepens our capacity to receive. In these three attitudes, Christmas becomes more than an external feast—it becomes an interior transformation. And so, as the Church lifts the rose candle, it invites every disciple to echo that ancient call: Rejoice, pray, give thanks—for the Lord is nearby. 

A Prayer for Gaudete Sunday 
Lord Jesus, teach us the joy that remains, 
the prayer that steadies, 
and the gratitude that transforms. 
Open our hearts to welcome You—in silence, in simplicity, in hope. 
Come, Lord Jesus. Come and be born in us anew. 

Fraternally, 
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC, Pastor