Dec 17 Sun
The joy of Advent.
In the liturgy of the Mass, St. Paul gives us the fundamental reason for deep joy: the Lord is near. The Apostle also gives us the key to understanding the origin of our sadness: our distancing from God because of our sins or lukewarmness. When, in order to find happiness, we try paths other than the one that leads to God, in the end, we find only unhappiness and sadness.
The experience of all those who, in one way or another, have turned their faces elsewhere (where God was not), has always been the same: they have found that outside God there is no true joy. To find Christ, and to find him again, brings a profound joy that is always new. Joy is to have Jesus; sadness is to lose him.
The Christian must be an essentially joyful man. However, ours is not just any joy, it is the joy of Christ, who brings justice and peace. Only He can give that joy and keep it, because the world does not possess His secret. The Christian carries his joy in himself, because he finds God in his soul in grace. This is the permanent source of his joy.
To be certain that God is our Father, and wants the best for us leads us to a serene and joyful trust, even in the face of the sometimes unexpected hardship. There is no sadness that he cannot cure: do not be afraid, just have faith, the Lord tells us. We turn to Him in an intimate and profound dialogue before the Tabernacle, and as soon as we open our souls in Confession, we will find the source of joy. Our gratitude will manifest itself in greater faith, and in a hope that will drive away all sadness, and in more concern for others.
A sad soul is at the mercy of many temptations. Sadness is born of selfishness, of thinking of oneself and neglecting the others, of laziness in work, of a lack of mortification, of the search for compensations, of neglect in our dealings with God. In order to be able to know Christ, to be able to serve him, and to make him known to others, it is essential not to be excessively preoccupied with ourselves.
Only in this way, with our hearts set on Christ, can we recover our joy, if we have lost it. This is one of the great missions of the Christian: to bring joy to a world that is sad because it is moving away from God. Let us prepare Christmas together with Our Lady, and staying in our environment, by fostering a climate of Christian peace; thus, we will bring many small joys and tokens of affection to those around us. People need proof that Christ was born in Bethlehem, our joy will give it to them.