Gaudete Sunday: Why True Joy Cannot Be Commanded | St. Thomas Aquinas & St. Paul ~ Fr. Perricone

About this sermon

On Gaudete Sunday, Holy Mother Church momentarily sets aside the penitential purple of Advent and clothes her priests in rose vestments, reminding us that Christian joy is not merely an emotion — it is a supernatural gift. In this powerful sermon, we explore why happiness cannot be commanded, yet St. Paul commands us twice to rejoice in the Lord always. Drawing from Sacred Scripture, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John of the Cross, and the traditional Catholic understanding of sanctifying grace, this reflection reveals the three levels of joy: Delectatio — joy from lawful bodily pleasure Laetitia — joy from human accomplishment Gaudium — the highest joy, given only by God This gaudium, the joy of the Holy Ghost, is one of His fruits and flows directly from living in a state of sanctifying grace. It is the joy experienced by the martyrs amid suffering, the joy that confounds the world, and the joy C.S. Lewis famously called “Surprised by Joy.” If joy is our birthright as Catholics, what does it mean when we lack it? And why is the absence of joy never God’s fault? This sermon offers a profound answer. 00:00 – In the Name of the Father 00:34 – Why Happiness Cannot Be Commanded 01:02 – Gaudete Sunday and Rose Vestments 01:28 – St. Paul’s Command to Rejoice 01:53 – Does Joy Contradict Human Nature? 02:09 – The Fruits of the Holy Ghost 02:50 – St. Thomas Aquinas on the Three Kinds of Joy 03:14 – Delectatio: Carnal and Sensory Joy 03:45 – Laetitia: Joy from Accomplishment 04:18 – Gaudium: The Highest Joy from God 04:48 – Sanctifying Grace and Supernatural Joy 05:04 – C.S. Lewis: Surprised by Joy 05:52 – Joy Without the Shadow of Sin 06:02 – Why Martyrs Rejoice in Suffering 06:51 – St. John of the Cross on Joy in Grace 07:51 – Joy as the Catholic Birthright 08:11 – Why the Absence of Joy Is Not God’s Fault 08:20 – Final Blessing https://www.youtube.com/@MyDearCatholicFriends https://www.fatherperricone.com/ 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 Support Catholic Businesses here - https://sensusfidelium.com/catholic-businesses/ Sensus Fidelium Press - https://sensusfideliumpress.com/ Sensus Fidelium Apps - https://sensusfidelium.tv/ Support Sensus Fidelium - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🙏🏻PLEASE HELP OUR CHANNEL GROW 🙏🏻 ▶️ 1. Become a Channel Patron: https://www.patreon.com/SensusFidelium ▶️ 2. Visit the website https://www.sensusfidelium.com for Gueranger, Saint of the Day, Apologetics, Meditation by the Saints, Scripture Study and more. ▶️ 3. Subscribe to Other Video Platforms 🔴 SensusFidelium.TV - https://sensusfidelium.tv/@SensusFidelium 🔴 BitChute --- https://www.bitchute.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium/ 🔴 Rumble --- https://rumble.com/c/c-298311 🔴 My Catholic Tube - https://mycatholictube.com/videos/sensus-fidelium-channel/ 🔴 LBRY.tv --- https://lbry.tv/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 ODYSEE - https://odysee.com/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 UGETube - https://videos.utahgunexchange.com/@Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 BrandNewTube - https://brandnewtube.com/@SensusFidelium 🔴 GabTV - https://tv.gab.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 GloriaTV - https://gloria.tv/Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 Brighteon - https://www.brighteon.com/channels/sensusfidelium ▶️ 4. Paypal, Bitcoin, Anedot, Stripe, Square & PO Box donations - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ ▶️ 5. YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 Please "Like" our videos so that Youtube shares it to others by clicking the "Like" thumbs-up under the video = 👍🏻 ▶️ 6. Please share this video 📲, and help others find Christ inside the Catholic Church! Please share this video on Facebook and Twitter using the share button. ▶️ 7. Follow on Social Media: 🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SensusFidelium/ 🔴 Twitter: https://https://twitter.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 🔴 Parler: https://parler.com/profile/Sensusfidelium/posts 🔴 SP3RN: https://www.sp3rn.com/community/pages/14-sensus-fidelium 🔴 GAB: https://gab.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 Bastyon: https://bastyon.com/sensusfidelium 🔴 GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/sensus_fidelium 🔴 INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/sensusfidelium/ 🔴 Telegram: https//t.me/RealSensusFidelium 🔴 Truth Social - @SensusFidelium ▶️ 8. Follow on iTunes: 🔴 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sensus-fidelium-catholic-podcast/id1477010758 #GaudeteSunday #CatholicJoy #RejoiceInTheLord #SanctifyingGrace #TraditionalCatholic #StThomasAquinas #CatholicSermon #Advent #HolyGhost #Gaudium

Topics

• Joy