Despite all the misery, malevolence, and hate-filled utterances throughout what has been (at least for me) a very long and contentious year and most especially now during what we called as kids the Season of Hope, today, Gaudete Sunday remains a favorite of mine (since my earliest school days).
Before I had memorized the entire Latin Mass, in the hope (forlorn) of becoming an altar boy, I had theorized from what I understood of the roots of the word Gaudete and its proximity to the birth of Jesus that it must somehow be Latin for 'just hold on a little bit longer.' I still think I should get partial credit for grasping the feeling if not the exact meaning
A lot of the warmth of our human hearts regardless of our beliefs is reflected by the holiday seasons that fall together this time of year somehow reminding us, I hope, that we are, when we can see and live beyond our differences and rise up to our promise and potential, all very much the same people.
