Excerpt from Today's Reading:
"For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
Luke 1:44-45
As we reflect on the message of today’s Gospel, we read about how the infant in Elizabeth’s womb “leaped for joy” upon hearing the sound of Mary’s greeting. Advent is a season focused on the idea of impending joy and the concentrated preparation of our hearts, minds and souls for the greatest gift of all: the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. While this momentous event is indeed a reason for tremendous joy, this time of year is challenging on many levels and channeling this feeling of elation, of which today’s Gospel speaks of, can be extremely difficult to do.
We are living in a time when perhaps joy seems to be the farthest emotion from our hearts and minds. How can we possibly be joyful amidst a global health crisis, pain, suffering, fear and constant worry? There are also everyday struggles that we deal with and often, “the most wonderful time of year” proves to be exactly the opposite. People around us are enveloped by loneliness, despair, loss and grief; these feelings now magnified during a season when everyone else around them appears to be happy and doing well.
Perhaps our challenge is to actually redefine the meaning of joy for ourselves. Years ago, I heard a homily where the presider spoke about how “joy” is actually an acronym meant to stand for “Jesus, others and yourself.” This idea has stuck with me and reshaped a bit of my thinking, especially in times when finding that Advent-like joy seems impossible to do.
As Catholics, we are called to always be of service to one another; indeed, joy can certainly be found when approaching a situation where one does something out of the goodness of their heart without expecting anything in return. The challenge might also be to find the simpler joys in our everyday life: a conversation with an old friend, that first sip of coffee on a cold December morning or the smile that a young child can bring to one’s face.
This Advent, in whatever way that you are able, may you find the strength to define what this “joy” looks like for you and know that God’s promise remains as we (joyfully) await December 25th.
Joe D.
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