3rd Sunday of Advent (Gaudete in Domino)
As we move deeper into the darkest of days, we light more candles on our wreath, as an expression of hope—an act of defiance against the darkness. And while the violet candles remind us that we are in need of something we don’t fully have—a Savior—and that we need to prepare our hearts for him, the rose candle we light today offer us another important reminder: to be people of joy. Rejoice in the Lord always!—as we proclaimed in our Entrance Antiphon—Gaudéte in Domino semper!
Let’s be honest—despite being very prosperous and richly blessed, being people of joy is not easy for us. It can feel like, as Thoreau once suggested, that we lead lives of quiet desperation. So, let’s be clear what we mean by ‘joy’? Dictionaries define it as a feeling or emotion, a response within the heart to something we find pleasing. But the joy we’re called to as disciples is more rooted than a momentary feeling: it’s a sustained state of being that lies beneath any troubling realities that are before and around us. It doesn’t deny them, but it keeps them from overwhelming us.
Recall the story of the Wedding Feast at Cana (John 2), how they ran out of wine? The wine was meant to symbolize joy. Jesus’ first miracle was to restore their wine, their joy—an even better wine than they had in the beginning. That tells us something about Jesus’ Mission: what he came to bring, to give, and what he wants us to possess.
Jesus came to bring us joy, but we must nurture it. This demands certain responses of the will from us. Though there are more, I’ll name five general dispositions—or more properly, virtues—that we must foster within, if we are to be people of joy:
1. Patience: for the things that don’t go the way I would expect or hope. I need patience instead of my tendency to become irritable and even angry and to react in ways that solve nothing, and in fact, only make things worse.
2. Acceptance: this doesn’t mean that I like anything and everything, because some things are clearly not good for any of us. But acceptance reminds me that there are many things over which I have no control. I have to put those things in God’s hands and not allow them to poison my heart.
3. Generosity: giving draws us out of ourselves and gives us perspective.
4. Trust: that God has a beautiful plan for me and has not forgotten me, even in moments that make me feel overwhelmed or alone. God will eventually make all crooked lines straight.
5. Gratitude: I know I say it again and again, but there are always blessings at work in our lives, even in tough times and on tough days. We have to keep them before us and be grateful.
None of these dispositions come automatically. Instead, we nurture them through our daily personal prayer: evaluating and asking for help where we need it. And by the way, we must be mindful also of the things we expose ourselves to which kill our joy. For some it may be too much exposure to the news or social media—which so easily can be sources of angst and hopelessness.
But we also do well to study those who model patience, acceptance, generosity, trust and a spirit of gratitude: those who model Christian joy. Who do you know that is like that? Study them.
Jesus’ act at the wedding feast in Cana wasn’t’ done to instill mere positive thinking, make-believe happiness or to pretend-away the real problems. But he would want us to recognize that our God and his providence is bigger than all those problems and he calls us to focus primarily on that.
On any given day there are plenty of reasons to be disappointed, saddened, joyless, and miserable. And that’s where some people choose to remain. But the cause for our joy that is the Good News that will come to us demands otherwise from us if we are to be wine for a world that needs joy, to be light for its darkness. Gaudéte in Domino!