'Fox & Friends' co-hosts celebrate the holiday season with a gift from Day 11 of their Advent calendar.
December 15, 2024, is the third Sunday of Advent, known in many Christian traditions as Gaudete Sunday.
The name stems from the Latin Vulgate translation of Philippians 4:4: Gaudete in Domino semper. Our English translation reads, "Rejoice in the Lord always."
This particular Sunday marks a turn in the Advent liturgy. For the previous two weeks, our focus has been on waiting, preparing and repenting, symbolized by the deep purple candles on the Advent wreath. But they are replaced by the rose-colored candle, a bright symbol of joy breaking into the darkness. Gaudete Sunday reminds us that the coming of Christ is — as the angel announced to the shepherds — good news of great joy.
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At first glance, the call to "rejoice always" or, in some translations, to "rejoice in all circumstances" may seem odd. The circumstances around us do not always seem to warrant rejoicing. The reality of evil and suffering in the world is undeniable.
Advent serves as a reminder that we allow the light of Christ to shine into even the darkest times of our lives. FILE: The 33-metre-high Christmas tree, which came from the forest of southern Austria, is officially lit during a ceremony as it rains in St. Peter's Square, in front of Basilica at the Vatican December 13, 2008. (REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi)
But Paul was no stranger to this reality when he gave us this encouragement. Whipped, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked and left for dead, he was intimately acquainted with suffering. And yet Paul, in meeting the risen........