Deep, Abiding Joy

All of us want to be happy. If we examine our motives, we discover that the reason behind everything we do is that we are seeking happiness. That is why we enter into relationships, get up early for work or pray. It is also the reason that we end relationships and change jobs. Even when we have made mistakes and bad choices, we did so believing they would contribute to our happiness. It is only when we look back and realize that those choices ultimately made us unhappy that we say they were mistakes.

God wants us to be happy. As the old Baltimore Catechism teaches us, He created us to be happy in this life. He takes delight in seeing us content and pleased.

Nonetheless, our Heavenly Father wants more for us than happiness. He created us to experience joy.

How is God’s joy different from the mere happiness we experience in this world?

First of all, happiness depends generally on circumstances outside of us. We feel happy when it is sunny, when we are healthy or when we are in supportive relationships. However, if any of these circumstances change, we find ourselves feeling unhappy. For instance, if we lose our health, chances are we will lose our happiness as well.

The joy that God gives, however, is based not on what is going on outside of us but what is going on within us. Because it wells up in our soul through our relationship with our Heavenly Father, we can maintain our joy no matter what is going on around us. Sickness, poverty or any other misfortune cannot rob us of it. In fact, it is precisely that joy which sustains and supports us as we weather difficulties. That is because joy is not a feeling but a deep, abiding confidence in the God who loves us and will never abandon us.

How can we experience such joy in our lives? John the Baptist shows us the way in today’s gospel.

John the Baptist is one of the most compelling figures in the New Testament. During his short ministry, he drew large crowds to hear his fiery preaching and to be baptized by him. Because of the fervor he inspired, many wondered if he was the Messiah. It would have been easy for him to let all the adulation go to his head. However, he made it clear that his ministry was not about him but about the One who was to come - Jesus. When the religious leaders ask him who he is, he will not even admit that he’s a prophet. He wants the focus always to be on Jesus.

If we want to know true joy, then, we must always keep our focus on Jesus and His plan for us. The world teaches us that the key to happiness is to assert ourselves, to put ourselves first and to manipulate others so we can get what we want. However, Christian joy bursts forth from souls that say, “THY will be done”. Just as the strings of a guitar sound beautiful melodies when they are in tune to one another, so our heart sings for joy when it is attuned to God’s will.

How do we make that happen? By making daily decisions to put Jesus at the center of our thoughts and decisions. It means taking to heart Saint Paul’s advice in today’s second reading to “pray without ceasing” which really means to be constantly aware of God’s presence. We know what our Heavenly Father commands of us - that we love one another, that we serve the needy, and that we embrace difficulties and offer them up to Him. By aligning our will to God’s in those small ways at every moment of every day, we will have an abiding sense of joy welling up within us.

Our Lady also teaches us how to cultivate joy. Today’s responsorial is taken from the gospel of Saint Luke and recalls Mary’s trip to visit her kinswoman, Elizabeth. Mary had just been visited by the angel Gabriel and was pregnant with Jesus. When Elizabeth sees her, she cries out, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” Like John the Baptist, Mary takes the attention from herself and directs it toward God uttering the beautiful antiphon we repeated today, “My soul rejoices in my God.” Then she goes on to proclaim all the mighty works God has done.

Today, we would say that Mary was “counting her blessings”. By doing so, she teaches us that the secret of joy is to call to mind constantly the great things God has done for us. Some days it is easier to do so than others. But when we do draw our attention away from the negativity around us and accentuate the positive, then joy will spring from within us no matter what challenges we may be facing. A heart that is grateful to God is a joyful heart.

God created us to be happy. Even more, He wants us to live with a deep, abiding joy that no hardship can steal from us. On this Third Sunday of Advent we realize that Christmas Day is close and we take joy in how near our God is to us. By putting Jesus at the center of our lives and by calling to mind constantly His many blessings,  our hearts will be filled with the true joy of Christmas which will carry us throughout the year, in good times and bad ones as well.