What Must We Do to Have JOY?

On the third week of Advent, we celebrate the Gaudete Sunday- which means JOY.

We are reminded by Paul today to “always be joyful in the Lord” (Phil 4: 4).

How do we ‘be joyful” when our lives are upended by death, sickness, economic woes, social problems, environmental degradation and political crisis? What must we do?

C.S Lewis quoted, “If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them. They are not a sort of prize which God could, if he chose, just hand out to anyone.” He adds that we cannot produce joy on our own – it is not within our power unlike pleasure.  

If we want joy, then we have to get closer to the source – you want joy get closer to God. When you are rooted in Christ and Christ is the center of your life, even when all things change, joy remains because “Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8). Pope Francis explains that “joy cannot be purchased or forced. …. It is the fruit of the spirit” (2018)

In Galatians 5: 22-23 we are reminded that joy is the fruit of the Spirit  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.”

This Advent, let us make effort to draw closer to Christ- the source of our JOY.

“Christ remains primary in your life only when he enjoys the first place in your mind and heart. Thus, you must continuously unite yourself to him in prayer…. Without prayer there can be no joy, no hope, no peace. For prayer is what keeps us in touch with Christ.” 

– Pope Saint John Paul II