The Rose Candle!

I have always been amazed in the keeping of the Advent wreath – in Sunday liturgy, in the home and in the classroom – how the lighting of the rose candle holds a special significance for young and old alike.  I can remember plenty of arguments over who gets to light the rose candle first, even in the high school setting. The church calls the third Sunday of Advent Gaudete Sunday, meaning REJOICE! This is taken from the entrance antiphon (in Latin) to the Mass, quoting Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.  Indeed, the Lord is near.” We are more than halfway through the Advent season, and the coming of the Lord is close.

Like the second Sunday of Advent, the Gospels for the third Sunday in every liturgical year highlight John the Baptist. We walk with him again this week not only as the one pointing to Christ, but also, from John’s Gospel this time, as the one who testifies to the light, “so that all might believe through him.” Reflecting again this week with John the Baptist, we are invited to think about the ways in our lives that we witness to the light of Christ and to reflect on how we can be a credible witness both when we can and when we cannot see the light of Christ.

Though it is on my Christmas list, I have not had a chance to read the novel All the Light We Can Not See. The title alone has intrigued me for some time.  When I think about being a credible witness to the light of Christ, as John the Baptist is, I most often think of the times that it is easy to testify to that light – the times when rejoicing comes easily, when the beauty of creation and relationships are in harmony and the Kingdom of God does not seem far.

What the lighting of the ROSE candle and the testimony of John the Baptist calls us to, is to reflect on the ways that we witness to the light of Christ in the “all the light we cannot see” times. I love that the rose candle is not the fourth, but the third Sunday of Advent. We rejoice not because all the candles are lit and that for which we hope for is here, but we rejoice on the third Sunday of Advent because we also know that soon, and very soon, that fourth candle will be lit as well, even though it is not yet. We rejoice this week because even though there are times we do not see it yet, we know, as St. Paul tells us in our second reading, that God "is faithful, and he will also accomplish it.” (1 Thes 5:24) Even in the darkness, in the waiting and anticipation – in the discomfort of relationships that are not right, when the harmony and beauty of creation are obfuscated – we still REJOICE / GAUDETE knowing that Christ has come, is here with us and will come again. We rejoice in knowing that God is faithful.

This week, John the Baptist invites us to testify with him to the light – in both the times when it is easy and in the times when it is hard. When we light the third candle this week, let us reflect also on that one candle that it still not lit. How can we rejoice always? How can we rejoice in the waiting and the trying and the difficult times?