Third Week of Advent - Joy

As we enter into this 3rd Week of Advent, the Church invites us to ponder on joy. What is joy? This question is widely answered by comparing joy against happiness. Happiness is external and dependent on circumstances while joy is internal and independent of circumstances. God wills to bestow upon us the gift of joy! How do we accept it? Simply put, we need to heed to the call of God to be in this world but not of this world. In order to better understand and appreciate as well as tangibly accept this invitation, let us take a look at the following text from Scripture.

“And while they were there, the time came for her to deliver. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn”

-Luke 2:6

Pope Emeritus Benedict, in his well-renowned book Jesus Of Nazareth: Infancy Narratives,

invites us to ponder upon the concluding words of the passage above: there was no room for them in the inn. He goes on to state that prayerful reflection over these words display an inner parallel with other moving verses such as “He came to his own home, and his own people received him not”(Jn 1:11), For the Saviour of the world, for him in whom all things were created(cf. Col 1:16), there was no room, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head”(Mt 8:20). He who was crucified outside the city (cf. Heb 13:12) also came into this world outside the city.

Bringing together all the verses mentioned above, we are directed toward the reversal of values found in the figure of Jesus Christ and his message. Truly, from the moment of his birth, He belongs outside the realm of what is important and powerful in worldly terms. Yet it is this unimportant and powerless child that proves to be the truly powerful one, the one whom ultimately everything depends. So, one aspect of becoming a Christian is leaving behind what everyone else thinks and wants, the prevailing standards in order to enter the light of the truth of our being, and aided by that light to find the right path.

Oh, what joy it would be to enter the light of the truth of our being, and aided by that light to find the right path! The key is truly to be in this world but not of this world. It is in accepting this reality- the reality of our call as Christians, the reality surrounding our life’s purpose that we ultimately find joy! Things will not always be rosy but amidst all the things that come our way, we will know with deep conviction at the end of the day, that Christ has overcome the world!

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus and His coming this Christmas. It is through Him, with Him and in Him that we find joy that is everlasting, For by His coming, assuming human nature, passion, death and resurrection, we are able to cry out, Abba Father! And by His ascension, we are able to receive God the Holy Spirit! The long awaited Messiah is coming. He is the Lord of lords, King of kings, Alpha and the Omega, Almighty and the list goes on. But then and again, “He belongs outside the realm of what is important and powerful in worldly terms.” Are we ready to follow suit? As Jesus comes into the world in a lowly manger, are we ready to let go of all we hold dear and claim to be our own? Are we ready to empty ourselves so that Jesus can truly, deeply be born in our lives? Fresh and anew. This has got to be a daily commitment and a journey. As our works and efforts should flow from prayer, let us pray this following prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola genuinely and meaningfully especially in the build up to and the Christmas Octave itself:

Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous; teach me to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to seek reward, except that of knowing that I do your will.

Amen.

As St. Francis of Assisi put it, “For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned and it's in dying that we are born to eternal life.” Such joy it is then to give to others, pardon others and die to ourselves since we ourselves are granted such assurance. Blessed 3rd Week of Advent!