Advent: Joy

Dec 10

After a long day of work, I was very happy to see a tin can of cookies dropped off at the rectory from one of our parishioners, who is a great baker. Later that night, I was happy to have watched a back-and-forth college basketball game. I love college bball in spite of what I think of the transfer portal and all this NIL stuff. Often, happiness seems to be conditioned on external events, something that satisfies me, like making all the lights from here to there, hearing good news about someone’s test results, watching Dallas lose (sorry, but it’s in the DNA of being an Eagles’ fan), or getting a job done in time. There is a sense of happiness having a comprehensive factor like when one is grateful for having lived a relatively happy life. But happiness can often be fleeting.

Joy seems to be internal, deeply rooted, that is all pervasive, not conditioned on one’s happiness at the moment. Joy flows within, grounding one in their daily journey both externally and internally. For me, it is qualitatively superior to happiness, for it is somewhat omnipresent. I was happy to attend three concerts within the span of a month or so. The music was of high quality and the singing stellar. One concert had a band promoting a new album and I have failed to find a song that I have not enjoyed on this album or their previous ones. Before, I used to buy a ticket for a friend who accompanied me in friendship but not a fan of the music. Now, I go by myself as I don’t want to talk, I just want to listen and to enjoy. It does not fail, whether the venue is for a few thousand or much greater, that joy overwhelms me. I feel connected to all around me. I am alive and relish this avocation of going to concerts for well over 50 years and inevitably, I pray during the concert, for God’s gift of music, how it is such a part of my life, and how it makes God’s presence known and felt powerfully, as if I were in front of the Blessed Sacrament. In fact, it allows me to appreciate His body all around me at that moment. This joy is God’s gift that nourishes us in the humdrum or taxing times of our lives. Joy often accompanies happy moments like watching Indiana University go undefeated, beat perennial champs Ohio State, and be so taken by their QB whom I never heard of and hearing his appreciation for his teammates, coaches, fans, and his parents, especially his mom, whose struggle with MS centers him for everything.

So, too, joy sustains us in unhappy and troubled times. When feeling the pain of a divisive world that can be sinful at times with a sense of helplessness to ameliorate the situation that seems to intensify in vindictiveness, joy propels us to know that it is God who is in control, has a plan, and is always with us, especially when we may want to flee. Joy is the gift that allows us to go on and be better than we were yesterday. Joy overwhelms me when I witness someone (usually a stranger) victimized, and I immediately love and bless her. Joy permeates me when quiet and by myself only to realize that I am not alone but in God’s intimate companionship, assuring me that everything is (or will be) fine; God is here and not going anywhere. Joy is about relationship with another or others, knowing they love everything about you, warts and all. It’s the great feeling of belonging that rejoices in being together and is elated just thinking of the others and all they mean to you. It’s not just my incredible nephews and nieces, it’s the people who allow me to be their pastor, the brothers who are my Oblates, the strangers who witness love and goodness. Joy makes me love for another day, for the God who gifts this and all of you with whom to share it.