"Rejoice always." 1 Thess 5:16
It is not fitting, when one is in God's service, to have a gloomy face or a chilling look. - St. Francis of Assisi
Today,the third Sunday of Advent, is called Gaudete Sunday from the Latin word Gaudete, "Rejoice". The season of Advent originally was a fast of forty days in preparation for Christmas, starting the day after the feast of St. Martin (12 November), and was called “St. Martin’s Lent” from as early as the fifth century. This Sunday was a break from the penitential atmosphere in that it focused on joy because the coming celebration was near. Originally the reason to be always happy was due to the belief in the immanent return of Jesus. Nowdays the injunction becomes an inner wisdom, directing us to notice what is good and not stay with the mind's habitual tendency to see what is negative. It also points us towards finding true contentment with how our life is actually at this moment.
The Spiritual life can often be seen as a serious business and can become heavy and even oppressive. Joy is not always associated with it. G.K. Chesterton had the right idea on the need to keep a light touch and not take ourselves too seriously:
Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly. This has been always the instinct of Christendom, and especially the instinct of Christian art. Remember how Fra Angelico represented all his angels, not only as birds, but almost as butterflies. Seriousness is not a virtue. It is really a natural trend or lapse into taking one's self gravely, because it is the easiest thing to do. For solemnity flows out of men naturally; but laughter is a leap. It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light. Satan fell by the force of gravity.
