My Very First Blog Posted on August 4, 2026 by gaudetetheology My very first blog? Why, you’re looking at it right now! Tee hee… I like the group projects anyway, but I had to do this one, it was such a gimme. I started this blog in the autumn of 2011. I was more than halfway through my masters in theology, had been reading theology blogs for several years, and decided I was about ready to have my own platform. I’m full of opinions, and at that point I could reasonably say I possessed a number of informed opinions. As a laywoman in the Roman Catholic church, my opinion doesn’t matter to anybody in the church hierarchy; but as a woman with a degree in theology… well, it still might not matter to the hierarchy, but I felt more comfortable expressing opinions when I could respond with “I’m pursuing a masters in theology, actually” to any possible naysayers. I chose wordpress because it was free, it was easy, and some of the blogs I read were using it. The name of the blog… “Gaudete” comes from Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday in Advent, the “pink candle” Sunday on the advent wreath; and it’s called that because it’s the first word of the first prayer of the mass that day. In Latin, of course; the source texts for the Roman Catholic liturgies are still in Latin, even though they’re now translated into the various vernaculars and generally prayed in whatever the local language is. Gaudete means “Rejoice Ye” in English — that little “te” on the end is like the French “tu”, but in a different grammatical form. And joy has always been important in my relationship with God. (This may, or may not, have something to do with the fact that I was 7 or 8 when the Medical Mission Sisters (an actual religious order of nuns) had a breakout single from their album of the same name, “Joy is Like the Rain.” My mother was a huge fan, so my childhood was filled with this music.) But joy, I feel, is one of the most reliable signs of the presence of God. Studying, reading, writing, talking about theology gives me joy. It did then, and it still does now. So why would I change it? 😉 This entry was posted in Meta and tagged #blaugust, #blaugust2026. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Response to My Very First Blog Pingback: #Blaugust2026 Group Project – My First Blog – Nerd Girl Thoughts