Enduring Joy

If there is one emotion which we associate with this holiday season it is joy. We feel joy as we gather with family and friends to celebrate. Our faces light up as we remember the Christmases of our childhood. Even all the bustling about to plan parties and purchase presents can be fun. The holiday spirit takes over and carries us along.

However, that spirit of holiday joy is fleeting. For most people, it gets packed away with the garland, tinsel and mistletoe. After the festivities end, we feel let down. As the days get colder and darker, our spirits dampen. The joy that pervaded our holiday celebrations becomes a distant memory.

To our worldly understanding, joy is just an emotion that wells up within us when we are celebrating with people we love. Like any emotion, joy comes and goes. It gives way to other emotions such as sadness or anxiety. In some ways, we have no control over it. If the conditions are right, we will feel joy. It depends on the circumstances around us rather than on any decisions we make or any attitudes we foster.

The joy that God wants to give us - the true joy of Christmas - is something altogether different. It is not based on whether we are with people we love or whether everything is going our way. Rather it is rooted in God who never changes. It is a joy that does not depend on the time of year or the weather but on the love of our Heavenly Father which is like a sun that never sets or an endless summer. Ultimately, joy comes from the knowledge that we are always in the presence of our God and that His love will never fail us. As we prayed together in today’s responsorial psalm, “Cry out with joy and gladness; for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.”

Christian joy, therefore, is not a passing emotion like happiness or sadness. Rather, it is a decision to live our lives mindful of God’s presence and love. It is a choice we make every day to focus on God and not on ourselves. That is why Saint Paul can command us in today’s second reading, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again; rejoice!” If joy were an emotion, it would make no sense for Saint Paul to command us to be joyful. It would be like ordering us to be ashamed or gleeful. However, because Christian joy is a decision, we can make a choice to be joyful every day.

To experience the joy that God wants to give us - the true joy of Christmas - we must first cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Everything we have is a gift from God. Even that which we earned from hard work and smart choices is only possible because God has given us health, strength and intelligence. Once we recognize that all we have comes from a good God, we will let go of our sense of entitlement that tells us that we deserve more than we have and that others are out to get us. We stop taking the people who love us and their daily acts of kindness for granted. Instead of focusing on what is lacking, we become aware of all the blessings which surround us and support us every day. A grateful heart naturally radiates joy.

Once we cultivate an attitude of gratitude, we will then become more generous. Because we recognize everything we have as a gift, we will want to share it with others. We will want to imitate the generosity of our Heavenly Father. As Saint John the Baptist urges us in today’s gospel, “‘Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.’” When we give to others, our joy multiplies. We feel glad that we are able to make someone else’s life better. Just seeing the smile on a sick person’s face when we visit the hospital or a teenager’s face light up when we give her a compliment is enough to build up our spirit. This holds true especially when we give until it hurts. The more we give of our time, energy and money the greater sense of joy we will have as we begin to witness God providing for us and bringing good out of the sacrifices we make.

As we make the decision to be more joyful, we will naturally experience more peace. Saint Paul reassures us that if we find our joy in our Heavenly Father, “...the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard [our] hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Where does anxiety come from? Isn’t it the fear that we will not be prepared if something bad happens? Isn’t it the worry that we will not have what it takes to rise to the challenge and that others will notice and think less of us? However, when our focus shifts from ourselves to God, we live with more of a sense of His presence and love in our lives. We trust that He will provide for us no matter what may happen. And we begin to care less about what others think. When that happens, worry and anxiety naturally melt away and there is more room in our heart for the joy that God wants to give us.

These four weeks of Advent are a time to prepare for the celebration of Christmas by remembering that God is present among us. Jesus was born to bring God into our lives and to reassure us that we are loved and cared for. The true joy of this season can be ours even if we are mourning the loss of a loved one, looking for work or experiencing the break up of a relationship. It can be ours not only during the holidays but all throughout the year. The secret to this joy is simply to focus on God’s presence in our lives, to make the decision to be thankful and to share what we have with others. Then Christmas will not just be a one day celebration but a way of life for us.