Fr Alan's Weekly Reflection

The Meaning of Joy

Cardinal Basil Hume visited Carmel of Lisieux in 1987. There he went to the monastery cell of St Therese. On the door there was an inscription saying, “Jesus is my only love.” This was written not in a time when she was happy but rather in a time of despair. This is faith at a heroic level, placing one’s trust in God when it seems everything in our existence would seem to contradict this.

 

Today in our Gospel we hear that John the Baptist was in prison. This was because he preached the truth of the Gospel. He sent his disciple to go and ask Jesus “Are you the one or are we to wait for another?” Most scripture scholars agree that John did this as he was struggling with his faith. Jesus’s reply “go and tell John what you see and hear the blind see again and the lame walk… ". His response is a reminder to us that God is still present and is still working even in the most trying of times.

 

Jesus’s response reminds us of the true meaning of joy. Joy is different from pleasure. Pleasure relies on material things and what is happening externally for us. Joy can include pleasure, but it is about having a deep sense of inner peace despite what is happening around us. The words that St Therese wrote on her monastery door was done to remind herself about joy’s true meaning.

 

In Instructing Beginners in the faith, St Augustine (354-430AD) encourages the Deacon Deogratius to maintain a joyful attitude even though he was presented with some challenges from those whom he was instructing into being received into the Church. Augustine saw that maintaining the spirit of joy regardless of what was happening would be contagious.

 

We call this Third Sunday of Advent Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete means joy. It is through maintaining a spirit of joy that others will see in a positive way the impact that God has on us. Can we still maintain a joyful trust in God even though some of our life experiences seem to contradict his very existence?  

 

Fr. Alan Gibson