Dear Friends,
On this Third Sunday of Advent, even though our world seems violently out of control, believers are called to joy because our God continues to come to us. We are invited to stir up the embers of joy in us – joy that recognizes and celebrates God everywhere and in everything.
Among the realities we hold close today are two babies born in the Holy Land about 2000 years ago. Both survived the rigors of being born, John, son of Elizabeth and Zachariah, and Jesus, son of Mary, son of God, beloved by His foster father Joseph. Two babies were born in the Holy Land about 2000 years ago. Both survived.
Recently, with an unholy war raging, 31 babies were born prematurely in Gaza, on the sea edge of the Holy Land. Not all survived. Those that have and will grow to adulthood will be told how it was that they survived and others did not. They will be told the story of their beginnings, and they will wonder at what God has called them to. They will know the joy of God, even as they know human sorrow.
Our biblical ancestors – these wondrous babies, John and Jesus, their parents and families lived in times like ours – hard times in which to live out right relationships, support families and communities and be faithful to the Lord. Even in hard times, they experienced a joy that no one could take from them. Each in his own way, was united with God. From them we learn the joy that recognizes God everywhere and in everything.
Joy grows in us over a lifetime. The person who has learned joy gazes at and walks in the world and sees God’s imprint everywhere.
True joy is not giddy or silly or trite. It is a strong luminous thread of connectedness that runs through our life, uniting us with God. We don’t think our way into joy. And let’s not make it a project or think we can pre-program it. Don’t be afraid of joy in these difficult times, as though being joyful is not appropriate right now.
Be still. Take an inward glance. The experience of joy is within us, waiting to be recognized. Look around. See it blossom and give thanks. Rejoice with the Palestinian babies that survived their premature birth not long ago. Let glimmers of God’s own mercy and human compassion touch them and their homeland. Rejoice as our own lives unfold.
~ Sister Joan Sobala
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