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.
18 years 1 month 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!

18 years 1 month 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 6 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

Pope Francis broke one of the Vatican’s “stained-glass ceilings” on Monday by appointing an Italian sister as the prefect of a Vatican dicastery for the first time. Here’s what you need to know.
Colleen DulleJanuary 07, 2025
David Lodge's novels—as well as his many works of nonfiction—made him an important figure in 20th-century British literature. He also captured well the angst of many lay Catholics in the aftermath of Vatican II.
James T. KeaneJanuary 07, 2025
In 1930, Hollywood teamed up with the Catholic Church. The result was the Production Code, a document that dictated what movies could and could not depict.
John DoughertyJanuary 07, 2025
“This is a very significant beginning,” Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the chief Vatican organizer of the Jubilee Year, said in a statement.