Joy: Your Companion on the Journey

Pope Benedict XV1 said,

“It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and this opens the doors of hope.”

This third week of Advent ties in well with this message, as hope springs eternal in all of us creating a feeling of joy, which sustains us no matter what path we are on or where we are on the journey.

Why was John the Baptist sent to let people know who was this person Jesus. He became known as the ‘voice in the wilderness’ letting everyone know that Jesus is the light who shows us the way thus enriching our lives. This gift of life comes with a whole range of emotions that people have experienced down through the ages at various ages and stages of our lives. The “light” that Jesus is, is especially important as we experience suffering or sorrow, despair or rejection etc. It creates in us hope to cling to, so that we can feel nourished by joy helping us to count our blessings with the gift of life.

The story of John the Baptist is a simple story told in very few words. But he had a job to do while he found himself living in the wilderness. We can think this was his choice and therefore it was easy for him. But was it? The word wilderness can conjure up lots of different feelings, emotions and experiences in us and I’m sure John the Baptist experienced some or all of them during his time. But we know that he was driven by that hope filled joy knowing that Jesus was the “light” showing a clear path forward and he embraced it fully.

Image: Unsplash/Greyson Joralemon

In our daily lives we can experience difficulty, loss and suffering but when we get the strength to persevere, that deep seated hope can get us through and allow us to feel a sense of joy again. This can be a major or a minor awakening within us. There are many examples throughout our lives when this can occur when we achieve a certain goal, when we find a certain problem has resolved itself or when we get good news in the midst of tragedy etc.

In our busy world today and given the technology and comforts we have created down through the ages it is easy to be impatient and expect instant gratification in many aspects of our lives. We need to reflect on the bigger picture and where we fit into the grand scheme of things and on the meaning of life as we know it.  “Glimmers” are tiny moments of joy, an unexpected phone call, a smile, a bird singing, a cool breeze etc. Once you start looking for them you will find glimmers everywhere. Unfortunately joy too can evaporate and be taken over by other emotions or can become hidden or buried in our psyche, never to become part of our persona that builds strength and resilience to live the life that we were destined to live.

Image: Unsplash/Kolby Milton

We all experience these life lessons, they come to us in many different forms, reading other people’s life stories, our own experiences, or just living our lives in a specific community. Advent is a time for us to reflect on those coping strategies that allow us to experience joy filled hope as we embrace all the different aspects of life.

Mary O’Sullivan, CSJ Associate

Third Sunday of Advent

Here we are in the midst of all the pre-Christmas parties, in the middle of cold weather and snow, in the midst of Advent and we read from the letter of James: “Be patient like the farmer who waits for his precious crops.  Strengthen your hearts for the coming of the Lord.”  For many of us this may seem like it is much easier said than done.  Many of us are frantically attempting to be patient with the family and community.  Here I am supposed to be living in peace and expectation, but life seems upside down and inside out.  Like John the Baptist in today’s gospel we are asking “Are You the one to come?”  I need some assurance that it is You Lord.  Hopefully You have not forgotten me, or just maybe I have not forgotten You, in the midst of the frantic running around?

Waiting is not an easy task.  It demands courage and strength.  What am I waiting for?  Do I really listen?  Do I really see?  Do I really hear?

I had a dear friend Sadie whom I met when she was a patient, and I was a chaplain.  She suffered greatly from her common law partner who would not allow her to go to the doctor.  When I met Sadie, she was blind and lost her nose to cancer all because of neglect.  She was a patient at St. Joseph’s hospital for more than a year.  Needless to say, she was a great teacher for me.  In the world’s view she was an unfortunate soul who had nothing.  One day I was reflecting with her and asked her when were her happiest days?  Her response was amazing!  It was this present year that she spent in the hospital.  You see, she had people who cared for her.  Her birthday and Christmas were wonderful!  She had presents coming out the door of her room.  Before this she had never celebrated her birthday or Christmas!  This year she had friends; she felt loved and was secure and free from harm! 

“in their simpleness they witness truth to us”

As I reflect on my dear friend and her life I wonder if sometimes the moments that we feel most empty can be the seeds of hope.  After all, the seeds put into the earth bear much fruit.  Today I am asking myself to hold onto the Sadies of our lives because in their simpleness they witness truth to us.  John the Baptist witnessed to the Truth, yet he needed encouragement along the way.  From my prayerful reflections on the readings of today I believe if we give love freely our faith will remain secure in the Lord. 

Sadie was a teacher without knowing it, pointing the way to Jesus.  Look for the teachers who show the way to the Lord even when they do not have a great education; even if they do not recognize it, they are leaders! 

Finally from Oscar Romero: “There are many things that can only be seen through the eyes that have cried!”  From Sadie, I believe she would be encouraging us “to let these tears water our hearts to see more clearly through the eyes of faith!”

From Sadie:  Merry Christmas to all!

-Sister Kathleen O’Neill, CSJ

Gaudete (Joyful) Sunday

Lately I have been watching the children preparing for Christmas. Such enthusiasm, joy and excited anticipation. Their preparation seems to involve going to parades, shopping with family, making cookies, making lists of special things they want from Santa and telling everyone they see how many days left till Christmas.

In some school settings there is a similar excitement brewing as Christmas cribs are built, pageants rehearsed and joyous songs practiced for the welcome of the Christ child.

Image: Unsplash/Austin Schmid

As we approach this third week of Advent I delight in the invitation to also prepare joyfully for the rebirth of Jesus in my whole being.  Isaiah’s (35: 1-6,10) vision of the desert blooming abundantly challenges our own dryness to rejoice and sing aloud the goodness of our God. The reading from James (James 5: 7-10) invites us to be patient and strengthen our hearts while waiting for the coming of the Lord. Jesus, in Matthew’s gospel, (Matthew 11:2-11) reminds us to go tell each other of the wonders we see.

Could it be that our call this Gaudete Sunday is to announce the presence of God all around us with great Joy? Would the sharing of the wonders we have seen and experienced help someone else to prepare to receive Christ into their hearts in a new way this Christmas? This week I will plant Joy!

-Maureen Condon, CSJ Associate

Third Sunday of Advent

The third Sunday of Advent is often referred to as “pink candle” Sunday, and in Latin, Gaudete Sunday indicating rejoicing and joy. The reading from Zephaniah, the Responsorial Psalm, and St, Paul’s words of encouragement, all ring with the tone of rejoicing, singing and gladness. This year as we listen to the news of a seemingly endless pandemic, catastrophic events related to weather, migrants searching for a better future, strained relationships, one might think, “about what could we be rejoicing?” Hearts are broken, lives are fragile, and hope can seem lost.

In the gospel from Luke, we continue to read about the people gathering around John the Baptist, seeking a new way of living, looking perhaps for hope, wondering, asking “what are we to do?” These people had not met Jesus, in fact, they thought that perhaps John was the Messiah, the long-awaited one who would change their lives.

But we have met Jesus. As we ask, what should I do? How am I to be? We need only to remember the two great commandments of love.

““Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.””

— Matthew 22: 37-39

St. Paul’s words, “Let your gentleness be known to everyone,” are key words for me as I reflect on today’s scriptures.

We also celebrate today the National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples. This day was established in 2002 by the Canadian Catholic Indigenous Council, with the approval of the Bishops of Canada.

The theme this year is We are called to Healing, Forgiveness, Reconciliation. ” We, the Body of Christ, are called to live in friendship and harmony with all peoples. We are brothers and sisters of our One Creator God. God gives everything to all of us. God creates and sustains the wonderful diversity of peoples, cultures, races and creeds.” (2021 Message of the Canadian Catholic Indigenous Council)

And so, we ask the question posed to John the Baptist, “What should we do?”

Sister Maggie’s view in Hay River, Northwest Territories

In Hay River, Northwest Territories, where I live our days in December are very short. The sun rises in late morning and sets in early afternoon. Often the afterglow from the sun at this time of year is a beautiful mauve to pink texture. As I drove down the highway today, the soft colours reminded me of the gentleness that St. Paul spoke about …Let your gentleness be known to everyone.

Sister Maggie Beaudette, csj

Third Week of Advent:Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday

Let fearful hearts rejoice!

May trembling hands and weak knees be strengthened.

Let the singing begin.

God comes with healing and purpose, with gladness and light, to set aside our doubts, to free us from the binding shackles of fear. God invites us to believe again in the promise of new life. We are called to acceptance of our present uncertainties. In these days, when many are faced with the need to move, we are reminded that God is present and there is no need to fear. There will be food; there will be warmth; there will be the compassionate ear and the voice of solace. The generous heart will care for the lonely one; the shut-in will be visited. As we respond to the needs of our world and our congregation, we know that God is faithful and we are faithful. We are faithful with God’s faithfulness. We say “Yes” in the ways that Mary and Juan Diego said Yes, knowing that we may not understand the how, but God’s faithful compassion will shine through. God watches over the stranger and God watches over us; God upholds the widow and the orphan and we uphold each other. Let us rejoice in the Spirit that is our strength. May we recall that desert flowers bloom and that Jesus came as the Light for our lives and our world. May we live in compassioate care with each other and with our universe.

Sr Helen Russell, csj