Tomorrow is Gaudete Sunday, a day for rejoicing, and as Richard Leonard SJ explains in his third reflection, Christians have got every reason to celebrateOver the first millennium of Christianity, Advent was like a late Lent. Both were five weeks long, marked by fasting and penance, and both gave the faithful a day off halfway through. In Lent, Laetare Sunday is still roughly halfway through the five-week season. Advent, however, got shortened to four weeks in the tenth century, but the now not-so-­halfway Gaudete Sunday has remained with us. It is the “rejoicing Sunday” when we look directly at the coming of Jesus at Christmas.I think all Christians should take joy very seriously. We know that the gospels never record Jesus as laughing, but as James Martin SJ capably demo