Welcome to Advent 3!
This week we light the 3rd candle in the Advent wreath, the Pink/Rose candle, the candle of Joy! The third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday. Advent originated as a forty day fast similar to Lent, and so, like Lent’s Laetare Sunday, we get a bit of a reprieve from the penitential sense of the season, and get a chance to revel in the nearness of the Lord’s coming. The lectionary readings reflect both our joy and that nearness: we have more promises of what the coming of the Savior will mean for us in Isaiah, a command from Paul in Thessalonians to rejoice always, pray ceaselessly and be ever grateful, the pure, effervescent joy of the Magnificat, and finally, in the Gospel, John is on the scene, telling everyone that the Messiah is imminent. It’s really real now, folks!
Nevertheless, it's important to take a moment and honor that in this moment here in 2020, finding and feeling joy might be challenging or disingenuous or worse: simply mean as we witness the grief and pain others are experiencing. Wherever you are at with the complications of joy is the right place to be. These songs are an opportunity to consider and engage joy in all of its complexity - what do we learn about the idea of joy from the lyrics and music - what are the texts telling us about how and where you find joy? Can you feel joy even in grief because the melody lifts you? For me, thinking about these complexities is the crux of my faith - it all seems like paradox - but then again, so is the Incarnate God we follow.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel | This week’s version is an acapella rendition by BYU Vocal Point.
Rejoice in the Lord Always | You'll probably recognize this tune from Vacation Bible School, Sunday School or Church Camp. This is a lovely choral setting of the familiar song.
Gaudete | This is a 16th century carol and one of my favorites. We’re creeping into Christmas territory again with the lyrics, but how can you ignore a carol that implores you to “Rejoice! Rejoice!” this week? Do click on the link above to learn more about the carol and read the lyrics. This is a popular song to record, so if you search YouTube, you’ll find several versions from everyone from Mediæval Bæbes to Anuna to Erasure. I've included two of my favorite versions for you to enjoy.
The Magnificat is a popular text for composers, and a quick search will yield you wonderful settings by Bach and John Rutter, as well as contemporary composers. I've included several versions from contemporary praise to quiet and contemplative. (If you have about 40 minutes or so, give the Rutter setting a try - it’s worth the time!)
My Soul Magnifies the Lord | This version, by Chris Tomlin, is full of joy - it will stick with you and help you keep that joy in your heart. keep that joy in your heart.
Magnificat | Quiet and contemplative, I hope this one stays in your brain a bit, helping you use it as a regular prayer.
My Soul Rejoices | Another quiet version of the Magnificat.
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring | I love a song that fits all occasions - you're as likely to hear this at Easter as you are at Christmas; at a wedding or a funeral - after all, Jesus is for all occasions, too. I love this setting my Irish fiddler Eileen Ivers.
In Dulce Jubilo | You might recognize the tune of this next song, as it’s used for a well-known carol, Good Christian Men Rejoice. This setting, by The Sixteen, is really gorgeous.
Speaking of organ, the organ voluntary by Bach titled In dulce jubilo (BWV 729) is a traditional part of the service of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge each Christmas. Listen to get a different perspective on joy -- and marvel at the organist’s abilities! It's mesmerizing.
Gloria | The lesson from Thessalonians this week gives us important instructions: “Rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks for everything -- for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (The Inclusive Bible). This can seem like an impossible task - how can you constantly rejoice? how can you always be praying? I pondered this often, until one day I left Mass and found myself humming the Gloria. I thought over what I was singing, and realized that I was both praying & rejoicing - praying to God and rejoicing over all of the wonderful things God is to me in my life -- all neatly packaged in this beautiful prayer complete with music. There are some wonderful settings of the Gloria from classic Mass settings to contemporary ones. The language of the Gloria might be very familiar to you or very strange - but give it a listen and let it marinate over you. Here's a version from a very recent Mass setting. What are some songs that help you feel like you are both praying and rejoicing?
Julian of Norwich | Our last song is not one that explicitly uses the word "joy", but is one that brings me joy and reminds me that even in moments that feel hard (or you know, months that feel hard), it will be OK. I don't know what that will look like, and it might be hard to see in the dark months of winter (or a pandemic that is stealing our happiness). Julian of Norwich was an English mystic and gave us much wisdom. She lived in tumultuous times - the Black Death and unending civil unrest in the form of revolts and suppressions. Perhaps her most well-known quotation from her defining work (Revelations of Divine Love) is this: "all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well". The text is a series of revelations that Julian had while she was seriously ill. This quotation is what Jesus says to her in the midst of her suffering. It is a promise not from Julian to us as part of a self-help plan - it is a promise from Jesus to Julian that she shares with us. Advent is all about prophecy and promise, and so I share this promise from Jesus to Julian to you: "all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.
Here are all of the songs as one YouTube playlist.
And here are all of the songs as a Spotify playlist.
May the joy of anticipating the Coming Savior surround you and comfort you as we continue our watchful waiting.