EVEN if the season of Advent is in
general marked by a
spirit of sacrifice as preparation for the coming of Christ, it also
should be characterized by joy. Precisely, on the Third Sunday of
Advent, this sentiment is highlighted.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! The
Lord is near.” That's how the Mass on that Sunday begins. Joy is what
we all actually long and yearn for. We want to be happy. Glee and
bliss are the unspoken ultimate goal we want to attain. But how should
we do it? That’s the problem.
Especially now when we are bombarded with all sorts of
trials, challenges, pressures, we end up harassed, losing joy and
peace easily and for extended periods, reacting to things with tension
and irritation, and often plunging into despair and depression.
In reaction to this predicament, many people resort to
deceptive quick-fixes and other forms of escapism—alcohol, drugs, sex,
isolation or wild lifestyle—not knowing they are just poising
themselves for an uglier crash.
We need to clarify some basic issues here, since we seem
to be in the middle of a thickening confusion and drifting to a kind
of hell on earth. Mental cases are piling up, some studies report,
indicating many people do not anymore know how to cope with their
situation.
We have to learn how to find joy then, its true source,
the one that can be attained and felt whatever setting we may find
ourselves in. Joy should not be based only on some shallow and shifty
ground, like our physical, emotional or social conditions. They are
very unreliable foundations, and can be very dangerous.
Joy and happiness can only be found in God. That’s for
sure. He is the source of all good things, the creator and foundation
of all reality. And when we mess up things that obviously will lead us
to trouble and sadness, he it is who will fix things, heal what is
sick, repair what is damaged, recover what is lost.
This is a truth that needs to be emphasized again. Many
have forgotten it, or worse, are ignorant of it. Especially the young
who obviously need to be properly taught things, they easily fall into
a very restricted and distorted understanding of joy, associating it
with some bodily pleasures, emotional highs, or favorable social
standing.
Many others have sourced it on the possession of good
health, wealth, fame, worldly power. This conception of joy is
notoriously biased and one-sided. It cannot stand the test of time
with all its varied situations. It prospers only during fair weather,
not in bad.
We need to shout to the four winds that joy can only come
from God, from loving him, following his will and commandments, and
entering into such an ever-growing intimate relationship with him that
we could clearly and promptly see his abiding interventions in our
life.
This is a truth that has to be released from our man-made
prison of ignorance, biases and malice. We need to break down the
modern walls of secularism, materialism and relativism that detach us
from God and have simply hardened our self-centeredness.
The joy that is rooted on our faith in God springs from
our conviction that God is our Creator and Father, the source of all
good things, including the essential mercy that we all need since we
cannot help but fall into sin and some trouble.
God never fails us. And nothing is impossible with him.
Besides, even in our wretched condition as sinners, God continues to
love us not only sentimentally, but also most thoroughly by assuming
our own sinfulness without committing sin, and converting our wounded
condition into a means for our perfection and salvation.
We need to go to God for find joy. As a psalm says it very
well, “To be near God is my happiness.” (72) We have to strengthen
this conviction. Those without God will surely perish and get
destroyed sooner or later. That much the same psalm warns us.
And God is neither far nor hidden nor ignorant. That
sensation that we can sometimes have toward God is at best apparent.
It’s false and without basis, since God is at the very core of our
life. And if we have faith we can actually see him everywhere. And we
know he is a father who always cares for us.
We just have to level up with the reality that governs us,
a reality that is not ruled only by physical laws but also and most
especially by spiritual, moral and supernatural laws, that is to say,
by faith, hope and charity.
spirit of sacrifice as preparation for the coming of Christ, it also
should be characterized by joy. Precisely, on the Third Sunday of
Advent, this sentiment is highlighted.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! The
Lord is near.” That's how the Mass on that Sunday begins. Joy is what
we all actually long and yearn for. We want to be happy. Glee and
bliss are the unspoken ultimate goal we want to attain. But how should
we do it? That’s the problem.
Especially now when we are bombarded with all sorts of
trials, challenges, pressures, we end up harassed, losing joy and
peace easily and for extended periods, reacting to things with tension
and irritation, and often plunging into despair and depression.
In reaction to this predicament, many people resort to
deceptive quick-fixes and other forms of escapism—alcohol, drugs, sex,
isolation or wild lifestyle—not knowing they are just poising
themselves for an uglier crash.
We need to clarify some basic issues here, since we seem
to be in the middle of a thickening confusion and drifting to a kind
of hell on earth. Mental cases are piling up, some studies report,
indicating many people do not anymore know how to cope with their
situation.
We have to learn how to find joy then, its true source,
the one that can be attained and felt whatever setting we may find
ourselves in. Joy should not be based only on some shallow and shifty
ground, like our physical, emotional or social conditions. They are
very unreliable foundations, and can be very dangerous.
Joy and happiness can only be found in God. That’s for
sure. He is the source of all good things, the creator and foundation
of all reality. And when we mess up things that obviously will lead us
to trouble and sadness, he it is who will fix things, heal what is
sick, repair what is damaged, recover what is lost.
This is a truth that needs to be emphasized again. Many
have forgotten it, or worse, are ignorant of it. Especially the young
who obviously need to be properly taught things, they easily fall into
a very restricted and distorted understanding of joy, associating it
with some bodily pleasures, emotional highs, or favorable social
standing.
Many others have sourced it on the possession of good
health, wealth, fame, worldly power. This conception of joy is
notoriously biased and one-sided. It cannot stand the test of time
with all its varied situations. It prospers only during fair weather,
not in bad.
We need to shout to the four winds that joy can only come
from God, from loving him, following his will and commandments, and
entering into such an ever-growing intimate relationship with him that
we could clearly and promptly see his abiding interventions in our
life.
This is a truth that has to be released from our man-made
prison of ignorance, biases and malice. We need to break down the
modern walls of secularism, materialism and relativism that detach us
from God and have simply hardened our self-centeredness.
The joy that is rooted on our faith in God springs from
our conviction that God is our Creator and Father, the source of all
good things, including the essential mercy that we all need since we
cannot help but fall into sin and some trouble.
God never fails us. And nothing is impossible with him.
Besides, even in our wretched condition as sinners, God continues to
love us not only sentimentally, but also most thoroughly by assuming
our own sinfulness without committing sin, and converting our wounded
condition into a means for our perfection and salvation.
We need to go to God for find joy. As a psalm says it very
well, “To be near God is my happiness.” (72) We have to strengthen
this conviction. Those without God will surely perish and get
destroyed sooner or later. That much the same psalm warns us.
And God is neither far nor hidden nor ignorant. That
sensation that we can sometimes have toward God is at best apparent.
It’s false and without basis, since God is at the very core of our
life. And if we have faith we can actually see him everywhere. And we
know he is a father who always cares for us.
We just have to level up with the reality that governs us,
a reality that is not ruled only by physical laws but also and most
especially by spiritual, moral and supernatural laws, that is to say,
by faith, hope and charity.
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