Drive the dark of doubt away

The theme of the third Sunday in Advent is “rejoice always”. If you remember that this particular season is meant to be four weeks of quiet contemplation and solemn preparation for the birth of the Savior, then you’ll see that breaking it up with one day of joy is a way of helping people get through this period of mini-Lent. That's why the candle changes color from purple to rose.

Our music today is based on the fourth movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Nineth Symphony, the one where he set Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” to spectacular music. Schiller’s poem praises the brotherhood of man (which, in itself, is something we might think about in Advent 2023), which was something Beethoven passionately believed in. The Nineth Symphony premiered in 1824.

In 1907, American writer, educator and Presbyterian minister Henry Van Dyke wrote a poem to be set to the Beethoven music, called “The Hymn of Joy”. I confess that I rather prefer the original version to Van Dyke’s, but we’re at Gaudete Sunday and it’s time to bust loose in anticipation.

So I’m giving you the Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit version. Crank up the volume.