Last weekend my homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent centered on a verse from the second reading which asked “…what sort of person ought you to be…”   In the course of the homily I offered a verse from St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, 3:12-13 which recommends: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you.” This week our readings suggest another: joyfulness. this Guadete Sunday. A Sunday whose name is taken from Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” I think that should definitely be part of who we ought to be.

Perhaps in modern English we make a distinction between joy and happiness, as do some dictionaries nuancing circumstances and moments. The biblical languages do not make such a distinction using the words in Hebrew and Greek interchangeably. As do our insightful 4th graders of St. Francis school. Outside their classroom on the hallway bulletin board are some giant letters that spell out “JOY,” each letter about 3 feet tall. Upon each letter, the children have written replies to the question, “What gives you joy?” Some of the answers are “in the moment” kinds of answers, for example: McDonalds, Burger King, Panera, Five Guys, and leading this particular pack – Chick-Fil-A. Some of the answers were sports related. Amazon got a shout-out. Many responses were patriotic (America, US Marine Corp, freedom). But most of the responses were relational: friends, parents, grandparents, their teacher Ms. Krumnow, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jesus, and God. That is quite the range of responses – and that is good. I think it means that the children are happy and joyful in their lives.

In Scripture there are so many passages which give reasons why we are called to be joyful people. In Ps 65 we are called stop and consider Creation itself – all the wondrous things from the stars above to the incredible beauty of the land and seas – and to be joyful.  Psalm 104 tells that a good bottle of wine ought to bring joy to our hearts. Jeremiah 33 holds up for us all to remember the joy that surrounds weddings. Proverbs 23 reminds us to find joy in our children and in our friends. The Old Testament is filled with reminders of what God has done for us and that the proper response is to be joyful.

But not all is fair winds and following seas. We live in a world in which there is loss, suffering, death, despair, misfortune and more at every level of life – from the personal, the familial, the local, the national and the world. From Ukraine, to Israel, to Gaza – the man-made disasters; and then there are the natural disasters of famine, earthquakes, tornados, and floods. There are simply moments when we can wonder “how are we supposed to be joyful in the middle of all this?”

The Word of God is not blind to these things, but it also tells us the for people of Faith, true joy is not rooted in happy circumstances, but rooted in God’s promises. When the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were enslaved in Egypt, once freed their response is recorded in Ps 105 – they gave joy. Right there in the wilderness of Sinai without assurances of an easy life. But their  joy was focused on the promise of God to lead them to a new land.  Later when the Chosen People were exiled in Babylon, the Prophet Isaiah reminded them of the enduring promise of God that He will never abandon them, “Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; They will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee.” (Is 51:11) Again and again, Isaiah reminds the people that God will fulfill all His promises to send a redeemer, a Messiah, to lead them to everlasting joy.

A week from now it will be Christmas and the very announcement of the birth of the Messiah will be given by the angelic chorus as “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10). The ongoing witness of the New Testament is that we embrace that good news, that great joy into our lives. Even when our lives seem as though it is life in the wilderness.

St. Paul knows what that’s like. When writing to the Philippians, he is doing so from prison. And yet he tells the people that he has chosen joy. Think about that. Not that joy came to him, but in that moment he chose joy. He chose to anchor joy in the faith of God’s promises as did the people in the wilderness of Sinai, the people in exile, as have done people of abiding faith throughout the millennia. Paul knew that the immediate circumstances of imprisonment would not be the final word but God’s promises would be fulfilled. And that offered him joy and he chose to embrace it.

It is why we celebrate Guadete Sunday in anticipation of Christmas when God’s promise of a Messiah was fulfilled.

“…what sort of person ought you to be…”

A person who chooses to embrace the good news of great joy and to be that joy for others.

Image credit: Pexels, David Orsborne 724825, CC-BY