What would Christmas be like without joy? Joy is a feeling of elation caused by something exceptionally good. Christmas is exceptionally good for it is about the miracle of birth, a precious little child, and God coming down to earth to be born in a manger.

The third Sunday of Advent is a time to withdraw from the ritual grind of Christmas preparations, and consider what Christmas is all about.

It is about joy.

How often I’ve heard parents complain about being drained over the Christmas! How their kids didn’t appreciate the gifts they gave them! How their hopes for a warm and uplifting family get-together went up in smoke, only to be replaced by bickering and discontent.

What went wrong? Nothing really as far as effort was concerned. No doubt, they did everything they could to prepare for Christmas. So, what caused their disappointment? It would appear they took too much upon themselves and did not experience the joy of Christmas. They set out to please others rather than experience the gift of joy itself which they have been called upon to receive. If you don’t possess joy, how can you share it with others?

This gift of the soul comes from making peace with who you are and is cultivated internally. You can always carry it with you wherever you are, in times of suffering and in times of trial. It differs from happiness which is a byproduct and is triggered externally by people, places and things. I have met people who have traveled the world in search of happiness only to return, unchanged, to where they started. Joy is not something you can put in a bottle or purchase while on vacation. It is priceless and it comes from within.

Jesus makes it very clear that His mission is not only to give us joy, but to complete it (Gospel of John, 15:11). We need to ponder Jesus’s sublime message of joy.

The joy of the Christian is a sharing in the joy of Christ who overcame suffering, opposition, rejection, fear and even death itself. The gospel is all about this kind of joy. This is the kind of joy the disciples of John the Baptist witnessed when they saw what Jesus was doing ( Matthew 11 : 2- 5 ). It is the joy that never fades for it gives energy to faded hearts, rejuvenates the prematurely old, restores life to arid souls, and finds joy in everything, even suffering.

This joy wells up from the deep recesses of the human soul. It is not to be achieved by living on the surface but by penetrating the deepest truths of ourselves through the grace of God. It is a quality that finds rest in the beauty of the Lord’s kingdom.

Joy is the beauty of the soul.

The joy the Lord gives us is the grace to go beyond appearances, to examine our life styles with a view to making them more Christ-like. The sacrifices we make to follow Christ in order to enter into His joy is worth it for He gives us a new spirit: the Holy Spirit. To experience this new spirit we must be prepared to put aside old ways and old habits that are selfish, dysfunctional, joyless. What a grace it is to be able to do this! What joy we bring to others when we show them love instead of hatred, when we show them pardon rather than injury.

The gift of joy is one of the most valuable gifts God gives us. It flows out into an unlimited variety of experiences and new awakenings. Our renewed spirits can shake with joy at the many experiences of new life: the incredible beauty of nature, the joy of people celebrating their unions together, the dignity of dedicated and unselfish lives, the sight of innocent children frolicking on sandy beaches or in schoolyard playgrounds, the gracefulness of those who possess this gift without fear of life or death.

This is the joy which the Lord gives. It is the joy He calls “complete” because it encompasses and transcends every other kind of joy. It never ends because it is an interior quality that never fades away.

Make it your special project this third week of Advent to spread joy wherever you are, wherever you go, and with whomever you meet. Do not hide it “under a bushel basket” but let it shine for all to see.

Take the day off. Bring the children somewhere to enjoy the Christmas lights. Celebrate! In Church or out of Church.

Rejoice always, as St. Paul says ( Philippians 4 : 4 ).

—Fr. Hugh Duffy