Christmas and the invitation to joy

The season of greatest joy is the Easter season, but the joy of Christmas is simpler and easier for us to feel and understand. None of us have experienced resurrection; we don’t know what a resurrected body is really like — but we know what childbirth is, what a baby is like! We know that the birth of any baby — even if it comes amid difficulty or distress, as the birth of Jesus certainly did — is an occasion of joy and celebration. Some of you may have heard the well-known remark of the American poet Carl Sandberg that “A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.” That’s true of any baby! Any baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.

Of course there’d be no need to say such a thing if it weren’t sometimes possible to think, looking at all the suffering and evil in the world, that perhaps it shouldn’t. In just the past year, hundreds of thousands have been killed and millions more displaced by war and violence in Ukraine, Myanmar, and other countries, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. Thousands more killed or displaced by natural disasters, including flooding and drought — and extreme weather is likely to worsen in the years ahead, due to climate change. And, of course, the weight of the world’s problems drives so many to alcohol or drug abuse, with tens of thousands this year dying from fentanyl overdoses.

And then there are the individual sorrows and wounds that each of us carry in our hearts. Troubles with family, work, health, finances, whatever it is. Perhaps some burdens, for some of us, weigh heavier at this time of year. Christmas comes as an invitation to joy, but how do we respond? How do we live in the joy of the Lord?

Pursuing the joy of Christmas

Begin, first of all, with the conviction that God has created you for joy, that joy is his will for you — infinite joy in communion with himself in the life to come, but joy beginning here and now, in this life. Yes, this world is a vale of tears, and our Lord himself tells us that we must take up our cross every day and follow him. But he also told his disciples in John 15, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” Come to us, Lord, and give us the joy you want for us.

Second, recognize that, while there are many things in this life that we can and should take joy in — life itself; time with family and friends; the use of our talents; music and art and the natural world; and so on — the ultimate source of all is God himself, and only by seeking him first every day of our lives can we hope to find the fullness of joy that he wants for us.

This means, of course, that in any areas of our life we haven’t fully surrendered to God — whether it’s unrepented sin that we cling to or some circumstance where we need to see our will done, instead of accepting God’s will, whatever that may be — that lack of surrender will impede the joy God wishes for us. This is where we need the cross. We must put to death in ourselves, or, rather, allow God to put to death in us, all that clings to our own will and refuses to accept his. For our own good! For our own joy!

The pursuit of joy is therefore a pursuit of ongoing conversion, growth in holiness. The holiness of the Blessed Virgin at the Annunciation; of St. Joseph when he awoke from the dream. “Let it be done to me according to your word.” Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him. In complete acceptance of God’s will, in all areas of our life, is perfect joy — not just in heaven, not next year or tomorrow, but today. Come to us, Lord, and give us light to know where we need ongoing conversion and grace to pursue it.

Third, we should remember that joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit, right between love and peace, alongside patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The pursuit of joy begins with love: love of God and love of neighbor. In embracing loving service to others, in generosity to God and neighbor, we will find joy. Come to us, Lord, help us to believe and live your teaching that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Christmas joy, the cross, and evangelization

As we grow in generosity and loving service, in seeking God above all and in ongoing conversion of heart, we will discover the possibility and the reality of Christian joy even in the midst of hardship and trial. Church history is full of examples of saints who were full of joy in the midst of trial. Father Benedict, our pope emeritus — whose 2012 message for World Youth Day I’ve drawn on in his homily — gives two examples of devout young people who modeled joy amid trials: Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who died of polio at age 24 in 1925, and Blessed Chiara “Luce” Badano, who died at of cancer at age 18 in 1990. Both of these young people suffered significantly in their short lives, but both radiated deep spiritual joy which was moving and attractive to this around them. Come to us, Lord, and help us to accept with joy the cross you ask us to carry today.

The attractiveness of joy brings me to the final point: Joy must be shared. We must be missionaries of joy, evangelists of joy. We must share the joy that God gives us with others, particularly those who are searching and struggling. Pope Benedict talked about this in 2012, and then the following year Pope Francis wrote an entire apostolic exhortation about it, Evangelii Gaudium, the “joy of the gospel.” Come to us, Lord, and help us to share your joy with others.

A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on. This baby, the baby whose birth we celebrate next Sunday, is God’s opinion that the world should be redeemed, freed from the gloom of sin through good news of great joy. Come to us, Lord, and give us grace to use this last week of Advent fruitfully, to prepare our hearts to celebrate the Lord’s Nativity with fitting joy. Amen.