Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Brad ReynoldsDecember 11, 2006

Because Christmas is almost here
Because dancing fits so well with music
Because inside baby clothes are miracles.
Gaudete
Because some people love you
Because of chocolate
Because pain does not last forever
Because Santa Claus is coming.
Gaudete
Because of laughter
Because there really are angels
Because your fingers fit your hands
Because forgiveness is yours for the asking
Because of children
Because of parents.
Gaudete
Because the blind see.
And the lame walk.
Gaudete
Because lepers are clean
And the deaf hear.
Gaudete
Because the dead will live again
And there is good news for the poor.
Gaudete
Because of Christmas
Because of Jesus
You rejoice.
 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
17 years 11 months ago
Thank you for the Christmas gift from America by Brad Reynolds, SJ. Gaudete is a beautiful gift to all of us, a reminder, a focusing lens. For me there was something transforming about the poem and the photo together. I came home from work this evening and found myself transfixed again by the photograph. What an absolutely perfect image of the goodness of life. Gaudete indeed!

17 years 11 months ago
Thank you for the Christmas gift from America by Brad Reynolds, SJ. Gaudete is a beautiful gift to all of us, a reminder, a focusing lens. For me there was something transforming about the poem and the photo together. I came home from work this evening and found myself transfixed again by the photograph. What an absolutely perfect image of the goodness of life. Gaudete indeed!

15 years 5 months ago
My name is Gaudete and I am facing hard times. These words bring tears to my eyes and hope to my heart. Thank you.

The latest from america

Delegates hold "Mass deportation now!" signs on Day 3 of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee July 17, 2024. (OSV News photo/Brian Snyder, Reuters)
Around the affluent world, new hostility, resentment and anxiety has been directed at immigrant populations that are emerging as preferred scapegoats for all manner of political and socio-economic shortcomings.
Kevin ClarkeNovember 21, 2024
“Each day is becoming more difficult, but we do not surrender,” Father Igor Boyko, 48, the rector of the Greek Catholic seminary in Lviv, told Gerard O’Connell. “To surrender means we are finished.”
Gerard O’ConnellNovember 21, 2024
Many have questioned how so many Latinos could support a candidate like DonaldTrump, who promised restrictive immigration policies. “And the answer is that, of course, Latinos are complicated people.”
J.D. Long GarcíaNovember 21, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers her concession speech for the 2024 presidential election on Nov. 6, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Catholic voters were a crucial part of Donald J. Trump’s re-election as president. But did misogyny and a resistance to women in power cause Catholic voters to disregard the common good?
Kathleen BonnetteNovember 21, 2024