Happy Gaudate Sunday! It's my favorite Sunday of the liturgical year. It's the only day of the year we celebrate joy for joy's sake, and that's pretty amazing. Also, the liturgical color is pink. That's awesome.
Weirdly enough, the deacon's homily this morning was pretty much what I was planning on talking about today, so if you happened to be at Sacred Heart this weekend I swear it's not a rip-off. More like great minds.
I chose this song because it is a fantastic, joyful song about pain. As a religion, we've never glossed over the pain in life. Some people can offer some horrific platitudes in times of pain, but we exalt the cross for goodness' sake. In case you forgot because of all the plastic glitter crosses out there, it's an instrument of torture. We have a Savior who felt all our pain as acutely as we did, and do.
Despite this, we have a day like today, where the priest wears pink (or is supposed to) and nearly all the candles on our Advent wreaths are lit. The Light of the World is almost here. We have so many griefs and pains and aches and sadness and anger in our lives. This is the day we look at all those pains and say a resounding "yes, AND," to them. Yes, I am in pain, AND I am joyful about the coming of my Emmanuel. (another both/and situation! What are the odds?)
Of course there are days when this is not possible. There are days out there that are just not going to be better. But there are days that have little bit of light in them. And those days are worth celebrating.
I can't help but dance to this song - it's the most effective use of a melodica ever. In fact, I've never witnessed an effective use of melodica before. So dance to it! And sing about it!
Original image: https://flandin505.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/satx122311-75.jpg
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