Do you desire joy in your life? The kind money can’t buy? Bishop Gruss reflects on the candle theme for this third week of Advent

Advent blessings to you! This week we light the pink candle on our Advent wreath.

Did you know this candle, also known as “the Shepherd’s Candle” symbolizes joy? It represents the joy of the shepherds, who were often the lowest class of people in society, and yet it was to them that the angels first announced the Good News, revealing that a Savior was born for them. 

This third Sunday of Advent is also known as Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is a Latin word derived from the word GAUDERE, meaning “to rejoice, to feel joy, or to be glad.”  

Have you ever been around people who seem grumpy all the time; or people who are negative or cynical; people who always see the glass half empty; people who never smile and always seem mad at the world; and they look sad all the time? 

I think we all have run into people like this. And I think to myself, “Do they really know the love of Jesus?  Do they not know how much God loves them?  Do they really know how they look to others?”
 

The human heart desires joy. We all want joy – every family, every people aspires to happiness. But the joy this world offers is always fleeting. It seems to come and go as positive life experiences come and go.

But Christian joy money can’t buy, comfort can’t produce, and material security can’t create. Our society has succeeded in multiplying the opportunities for pleasure, but it has great difficulty in generating this type of joy. Why? Why is that? 

Because it is spiritual. True joy or Christian joy only comes from the Lord. And we don’t have to wait for it until heaven. Christian joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is the joy that comes solely from the experience of God’s presence and it cannot be simulated or created by any other source or thing.  

 

At the very heart of Christian joy is the deep and profound love of God for us, which naturally leads to a love for others. It is a joy deeply rooted in an intimate relationship with Jesus and sustained by his Holy Spirit. It is the light that can never be extinguished that burns within us because God is with us.

The closer the Lord is to us, the more joy we feel; the farther away he is, the more sadness we feel, any joy we have will be fleeting, often leading to sadness or some sort of unhappiness. 

So how do we experience and even maintain this joy in our everyday lives?
 
Let me offer some suggestions for this season of Advent.

1.    First of all, we all want to experience the joy which Jesus had in his heart, even in the midst of suffering, don’t we?  Our joy is Jesus – his faithful love is inexhaustible!  “Where there is great joy, there is the presence of the Holy Spirit.” Ask the Holy Spirit for a deepening of this gift. 

2.    There are many things in Advent and Christmas that can lead us to joy. The only true path to joy is in seeking the real presence of God, not in the manger, but in a lived relationship with Jesus – to connect each day with the God who “is rejoicing over us with gladness.” Take time daily in earnest prayer with the Lord.  

3.    At the root of Christian joy is a life of charity. The Christian life is meant to serve God and our neighbor joyfully. The reason charity is at the root of Christian joy is because it mirrors God’s love for us.  Take the time to live the virtue of generosity with others.

During this season of Advent, who is Jesus asking you to share your faith with through acts of charity?  Who do you know who could use a helping hand? Take the time to bring your joy to someone else.

Perhaps even as you are listening to this message, the Holy Spirit has brought someone to your mind.  Bring the gift of Advent to them. 

And, don’t forgot to pray each day this week for the gift of joy to come alive in you.

May God bless you!
 

Bishop Robert Gruss