A Franciscan Parish in the Archdiocese of Detroit

Browsing FROM THE DESK OF FR. JEFF

December 16-17, 2017

The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally referred to as Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is the Latin word for “rejoice,” and this designation is meant to echo and reinforce the admonition from the very first sentence of today’s second reading from 1 Thessalonians, “rejoice always.” The idea is that the Lord’s coming and ongoing presence among us should be a source of joy. 

But let’s face it: it is sometimes hard to rejoice, let alone be joyful always! There are so many sources of pain, sorrow, frustration, and disappointment. Our bodies have aches and pains; our relationships are sometimes stained; our civil society is fractured and acrimonious; there is so much suffering, poverty, and violence. Rejoice? Always? Besides, what does it mean to be joyful, anyway? Is it realistic or even desirable that I be happy all the time? 

I don’t think being joyful is the same thing as being happy. Joy is something deep and abiding. I think a person can be momentarily unhappy or sad, but deeply joyful at the same time. It comes from a profound sense in God’s presence in life and trust in God’s goodness. In many ways, that is the Good News of Christmas, of the Incarnation, that God is so good and so in love with us, that that goodness overflows as the Word becomes flesh. But that doesn’t mean we will not have times of struggle and challenge, but that we don’t have to deal with them alone. We have a light that has come to dispel darkness. Experiencing that work of God in our lives and in our world can be a source of almost inexpressible joy. 

During a Mass last May at Casa Santa Maria in Rome, Pope Francis talked about the difference between happiness and joy: 

“To be happy is good, yet joy is something more. It’s another

thing, something which does not depend on external motivations,

or on passing issues: it is more profound. It is a gift.

To be ‘happy at all moments, at all cost,’ can at the end turn

into superficiality and shallowness. This leaves us without

Christian wisdom, which makes us dumb, naïve, right?

All is joy … no. Joy is something else; it is a gift from the Lord.” 

During this season of sharing gifts, perhaps we can radiate this most needed gift of a deep and abiding joy in God’s goodness. It will help us on our pilgrim way. 

Fr. Jeff

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