Why the Word became Flesh

Although the average person is probably not aware, there are actually four different sets of readings for, The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas). There are readings for the Vigil, for Mass during the night, for Mass at dawn and finally Mass during the day. I would like to comment on the readings for Christmas Mass during the day (John 1:1-18).

St. John tells us, “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory” (John 1:14).

As Christians if we get past the Holy Jolly Christmas images, we see the scene in Bethlehem, with the infant Jesus born of the Virgin Mary in a simple manger.

Meditating on this scene, might ask why God became a child. Why was the incarnation necessary?

While St Thomas Aquinas admits that God could have saved us and revealed himself to us in a different manner, the incarnation is the most fitting manner for him to have accomplished his goal.

As St Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans, because we are part of the visible creation, God has chosen to reveal invisible things through the things we can see in creation (Romans 1:20).

God did not despise our human weakness but chose to reveal his goodness, wisdom, justice and power through the incarnation. God has condescended to reveal his goodness in the manner most understandable to us. By joining human created nature to Himself, in that one person of Christ, God reveals his goodness in the most easily understood manner.

It was necessary to do so in order to save us. God sent his Son to save the world from sin. As St John reminds us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16).

St Thomas reminds us “it was necessary for man’s salvation that God should become incarnate” (STh., III q.1 a.2 s.c.–resp.), but this necessity must be understood not in an absolute sense as the only possible way to accomplish our salvation. We must admit that God in his infinite power, could have chosen a different way.

Yet we can say the incarnation was necessary as the best and most convenient way to accomplish our salvation. In God’s infinite wisdom, it is the best way to accomplish our salvation even if other ways are possible. As St Augustine reminds us, “there was no other way more fitting, and no other needed for healing our misery” (On the Trinity, 13.10.13)

We receive five benefits through the incarnation.

Faith

Firstly, we may increase our faith because we see God himself speaking.

St Augustine notes, “

“It was in order to make the mind able to advance more confidently toward the truth that Truth itself, the divine Son of God, put on humanity without putting off His divinity and built this firm path of faith so that man, by means of the God-man, could find his way to man’s God.” (De civ. Dei 11.2).

As St John reminds us in our Gospel, Jesus “...was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Jesus is “The true light, which enlightens everyone.” Yet it is only by faith that we accept him. The world did not accept this light and even his own people did not accept him.

In the light of faith, however, St John tells us, “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name.”

Hope

Jesus also came to inspire hope.

As St Augustine notes,

“For what was so necessary for raising our hopes and for liberating the minds of mortals… than to show how highly God esteemed us and how much He loved us?” (De Trin. 13.9.12). 

What could be a greater proof of God’s love, than for our Savior, while remaining fully God, to take on our nature, without detriment to His own divine nature, and in order to enter into fellowship without our nature?

As St Paul reminds us, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

Charity

Finally, by his incarnation Christ has greatly enkindled our charity. A St Augustine notes,

 “What greater reason is apparent for the advent of the Lord than that God might show His love in us, commending it powerfully, inasmuch as “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”? (De Catech. Rudit. iv.).

An Example to Imitate

By becoming man, Jesus also gave us an example to follow. It is much more difficult to follow an unseen God than to follow the God-Man Jesus Christ. This is also the very essence of discipleship. Instead of focusing on classrooms and book learning, discipleship was much more of an apprenticeship. It is very fitting then, to have a living example to follow as a disciple. Disciples are called to imitate the life and teachings of our master.

Partakers of the Divine Nature

Finally and most importantly, the true reason for the incarnation was to help us “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). By entering into communion with the Word, we receive divine sonship, and become sons and daughters of God (Romans 8:29, Galatians 4:6).

As St Athanasius famously put it, “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” This saying is echoed by St Thomas, “The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods” (Opusc. 57: 1–4, as quoted in CCC 460).

Obviously, this language could be misunderstood. By our union with Christ, we become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). This occurs through our participation in the life of the Blessed Trinity, yet we will remain finite beings. It is God’s eternal desire that we share in his divine life by becoming “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

As the Catechism reminds us, “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” (CCC 261, cf. 234). In order to accomplish the mission of revealing the mercy and love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the incarnation became necessary as the remedy for our sinful state.

In the mystery of God’s plan, we become something more through the incarnation of God’s only Son. We are now able to participate in a deeper way in the life of the Most Holy Trinity. We are a new creation, and live under a new covenant, through the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit. God has made all of this possible, through the incarnation.

God is With Us

I wanted to begin by sharing a personal passion of mine. I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy talking to people about their faith. In the past few weeks, I had the opportunity to talk with someone who had almost no background in faith whatsoever. Today it is popular to call such people “nones.” People who say they have no faith.  

When I shared about God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and about Jesus being fully God and fully man, this person was not shy to say, “That sounds completely incredible!” They challenged me, “Do you really believe that?”

This reminded me of something that occurred to me forty years ago. I was working as summer student for a government agency, and we were going to live in a remote location in large trailers. When we picked up the trailers from the yard, everything was in working order except the propane-powered refrigerators. So we visited a repair shop, the repair technician gave us a secret method to get them working. We had to remove the units and then lay them on the ground and rotate them through a series of very specific, but strange maneuvers—almost like physiotherapy.

The repair technician said, “I know this method sounds really weird, but trust me it works!” Sure enough, after following his method, the units came back to life. It struck me that the words he said might apply to our Gospel this week.

“I know this idea sounds really weird, but trust me it works!” You see faith is about trust.

As we reflect on our Gospel, once again we see that God became a little child. We call this the incarnation.

This week we and learn three things from our readings. We learn, who Jesus is; secondly, why our belief about Jesus matters, and finally, what our response to this truth should be.

Jesus is God

First, Jesus is God. The child growing in the virgin Mary’s womb was, as we confess together “conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Joseph is not literally Jesus’ father. God is the father of this child. Not in the normal manner of course, but by the Holy Spirit.

St Matthew then quotes Isaiah noting, “the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and you shall name him Emmanuel” The name Emmanuel means “God with us.” Perhaps this is as puzzling today as it was to the original Jewish audience. How can a child be God with us?

Not only are the ideas of God becoming man and the virgin birth puzzling, but in the mind of many, this claim also makes Christianity too exclusive.

While other religions claim to make you good, and lead you to God, we are claiming instead that God came to us. God took the initiative. As St Paul reminds us, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). Yes, we do search for God, but he came to us first.

When we come to realize just how radical this claim is, it is impossible to believe that Christianity is just one-good-religion-among-many at the religious buffet.

Think about his for a moment, if Jesus is not God as we claim, then our faith is a lie. Jesus cannot be merely a good man, or a great teacher, or a prophet, although of course he is all those things, he also claims to be God.

Why Our Belief about Jesus Matters

So I might ask you all, why is this important? Not only is Jesus God, but we are told “He will save his people from their sins.” Following Jesus as his disciple is not merely a good way of life, but the way to salvation. As Jesus himself says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Living a good life is admirable, but we must remember that we cannot save ourselves by our good works.

As St Paul forcefully reminds us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— not because of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9). We are saved by Jesus death on the cross—a free gift of God’s grace, which we receive through faith, not by our own good works. And of course, this is the constant teaching of the church.

What our Response Should Be?

So then, I might ask you, how then should we respond to this truth?

First, we must make a choice. Jesus claims to be God, and this calls for an all-or-nothing response from us. Is he truly the Lord (as he claims), or instead perhaps he is a liar, or maybe even a lunatic? If he is not the Lord, then he cannot be good.

If we have come to believe that Jesus is God, we must then demonstrate our faith. As St Paul just told us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith”

What does it mean to be saved “through faith”?  

In our second reading, St Paul calls each one of us to “the obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5). The fathers of Second Vatican Council point out that the obedience of faith is not, as the word obedience sounds, merely following the rules, instead something from the heart. We engage our through commitment and trust. “The obedience of faith” then is the complete submission of our heart and will to God. Our tradition calls this an act of faith. Our cooperation in an act of faith is the necessary beginning, and then of course, our life and actions change as a result. It all starts however, in the heart.

How does this work? Perhaps as we read Sacred Scripture, or hear it preached, the Holy Spirit moves our hearts, and opens our minds to see the truth. God intends this inspiration to lead to our joyful assent, to our “yes” to God. Yet this does not take away our freedom. We still have a choice.

In fact, the obedience of faith or making our own act of faith is the goal of our joyful expectation in Advent.

Many of us prepare a manger scene in our homes at Christmas to remind us of the Nativity. I invite you today to imagine that this manger is your heart. As we sang in our psalm response, "Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory."

We need to prepare our heart to receive our savior. WE have had many opportunities in the past few weeks for Confession. Preparing our hearts might also require prayer, or perhaps meditating on Sacred Scripture. Above all, it means our “yes” to God in our hearts.

Perhaps some of you feel your heart is unworthy to receive the King? Yet even a humble manger in a stable was his resting place that day.  We must remember that God proved his love for us while we were still sinners. The truth is, none of us is worthy to receive him, but out of love, he comes to each of us, if we will open our hearts. 

Once again, this idea might still sound weird to some people, but trust me it works!  This Advent may each of our hearts sing, “O come, O come, Immanuel.”

“O Come, O Come, Immanuel.”

Our Gospel this week has a lot to say about Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. I would like to begin by quoting the most important thing Joseph says in Scripture. Ok, wait for it ……. In fact we do not have a single word spoken by Joseph recorded in the Bible.

I’m sure you have heard the expression, “actions speak louder than words.” Joseph speaks volumes, but we don’t know a single thing he ever said. Yet we see a man of profound integrity, a merciful and gentle man, but most of all we see obedience.

We can certainly understand how he would be conflicted and puzzled by news of Mary’s pregnancy. Yet after the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, we are told, “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home” (Matthew 1:24). The Angel informs Joseph that this child was conceived through the Holy Spirit and then quotes from the prophecy in our first reading, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

As we reflect on our Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Advent (Matthew 1:18-24) we are confronted once again with God himself taking flesh and becoming a child. We call this the incarnation. We might ask, what is the big deal? Why do we need an incarnation?

We learn three things from our Gospel. We learn who Jesus is; secondly, why our belief about Jesus matters, and finally, what our response should be.

Jesus is God

First, Jesus is God. The child growing in Mary’s womb was “conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Joseph is not literally Jesus’ father, nor is any human father. God is the father of this child.

Furthermore, the angel tells Joseph, “to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). In last week’s reading from Isaiah 35, God himself saves his people. [1]

Yet, the angel says Jesus “will save his people from their sins.” This clearly implies that Jesus is acting in the place of God. Jesus, who is God, will save his people.

To make the point crystal clear St Matthew quotes Isaiah 7, “the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel” The name Emmanuel means “God with us.” This is not a spoiler alert for us today, but to St Matthew’s Jewish audience this was a big deal! How can the child Jesus also be God with us?

Yet the idea that Jesus is God is also a problem for some modern people. Does this claim make Christianity too exclusive and give it a kind of all-or-nothing character. No other religion makes the claim that God became man.

While other religions claim to make you good, and lead you to God, we are claiming that God came to us. God takes the initiate. As St Paul reminds us, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This is not of course to deny some goodness in other faiths, but no other religion has an incarnation.

When we come to realize just how radical this claim is, it is impossible to believe that Christianity is just one good religion among many at the religious buffet.

Think about this for a moment, if Jesus is not God as we claim, then our faith is a lie. It is actually a delusion. If Jesus is a liar, he is not good. We cannot sit on the fence about this. We must decide either for or against Jesus claim to be God. Jesus cannot be merely a good man, or a great teacher, or a prophet, although of course he is those things, he also claims to be God.

Why Our Belief about Jesus Matters

Not only is Jesus God, “He will save his people from their sins.” Following Jesus as his disciple is not merely a way to a good life, but the way to salvation. As Jesus himself says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”  (John 14:6). 

Someone might say, “I don’t think doctrine is important, I think it is enough to just live and good life, and be a good person.” Of course living a good life is admirable, but we must remember that we cannot save ourselves by our good works.

As St Paul forcefully reminds us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— not because of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9). This is the constant teaching of the church.

Jesus saves us by his sacrificial death on the cross. In fact, even the power to live a good life comes from God’s unmerited grace.

 

What Our Response Should Be?

First, the truth of the incarnation calls us to make a choice either for or against Jesus. Jesus claims to be God, and this calls for an all-or-nothing response from us. Once we have assented to the belief that Jesus is God, we must demonstrate our faith. In our second reading, St Paul calls each one of us to “the obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5).

The “obedience of faith” means the complete submission of our heart and will to God. [2] This fundamental act of saying “yes” to God is necessary for our cooperation with God’s grace. This full submission of our heart allows us to receive his unmerited forgiveness.

How does this work? The Holy Spirit moves our hearts, turning them towards God, and opens our minds to see the truth. God intends this inspiration in our hearts to lead to our joyful assent, our “yes” to God, and an ever-deepening relationship with him. Yet God does not force anyone to believe.

Jesus Christ became a man to bring about the obedience of faith in each of our hearts. This is the goal of our joyful expectation in Advent.

Many of us prepare a manger scene in our homes a Christmas to remind us of the Nativity. I invite you today to imagine that this manger is your heart. We need to prepare our heart to receive our savior. 

Do you feel your heart is unworthy to receive the King? Even a humble manger in a stable was his resting place that day. None of us is worthy to receive him, but out of love he comes to each of us, if we will open our hearts. “O come, O come, Immanuel.”

_________________________

[1]     “Here is your God, he comes with vindication;

With divine recompense he comes to save you” (Is 35:4). 

[2] This is the meaning of the act of “faith” or the “obedience by which man commits his whole self freely to God, offering the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals.” (Dei Verbum, 5) As the fathers of Second Vatican Council put it,

To make this act of faith, the grace of God and the interior help of the Holy Spirit must precede and assist, moving the heart and turning it to God, opening the eyes of the mind and giving "joy and ease to everyone in assenting to the truth and believing it." To bring about an ever deeper understanding of revelation the same Holy Spirit constantly brings faith to completion by His gifts. (Dei Verbum, 5)

Joy: The Fulfillment of All Desire

Today we celebrate ‘Gaudete Sunday.’ Gaudete means ‘Rejoice.’[i] We often see our clergy wearing rose-colored vestments and we light a rose-colored candle in the Advent wreath, the candle of joy. As we journey with Our Lady towards Jesus' Nativity, we pause to celebrate the joy of this expectation.

In our first reading, Isaiah promises that when the Lord’s Servant comes to vindicate his people, he will strengthen the weak and calm the hearts of those who are frightened. His salvation will include opening the eyes of the blind, causing the deaf to hear, the lame to leap, and the mute to sing. They will enter Zion singing. The Lord will crown his people with everlasting joy. Sorrow and morning will flee, when the Lord pours out his joy and gladness upon his people. 

Joy is an affection of the soul, closely linked with the emotion of delight or the satisfaction of our desires. Joy is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and an effect of the theological virtue of charity. Psychologically the emotion of joy is a feeling of delight or extreme gladness. Even psychologists view joy as an “exultation of the spirit arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction.”[ii] Joy can be a passive sense of tranquility or an active desire to share this feeling with others.  

We can distinguish between natural joy in created things and spiritual joy which comes from a reflection on the Divine good[iii] which arises from hope. [iv] Although spiritual joy arises from hope it is also reflexive, when we are joyful, we experience greater hope. We can also experience supernatural joy as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, Romans 15:13).

As I reflect on the notion of joy, I can ask myself do I experience joy in my faith? I need to be honest with myself. A joyless faith is defective. God promises us joy!

I don’t know about you, but ‘Gaudete Sunday’ is a good time to examine my heart on my experience of joy.

Our Gospel for the Third Sunday of Advent (Matthew 11:2-11) continues to highlight John the Baptist. St Matthew tells us that when John the Baptist heard from prison, about the mighty works and miracles that Jesus was performing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” (11:3). 

We each need to ask ourselves this same question. In today’s world, we cannot assume that everyone understands who Jesus is. Is Jesus the one? Do we truly believe he has come to satisfy our desires?

In answer to John the Baptist’s question, Jesus understands himself as the spirit-anointed Servant from Isaiah (11 and 61). Jesus answers John’s disciples by pointing out his fulfilment of a number of key passages from Isaiah about the Suffering Servant. Both our first reading from Isaiah 35 and our Psalm (146), highlight a number of these fulfillments. Jesus has come to proclaim a new age of the Spirit (Isaiah 61:2), a year of the Lord’s favor (Isaiah 61:2). This coming of the Spirit will bring God’s people comfort, joy and gladness of heart (Isaiah 29:19; 35:10; 61:1). 

Jesus’ mission from the Father is to be the fulfillment of all desire. This is joy! While it includes natural joy, he is primarily wanting to inspire spiritual or supernatural joy in our hearts by relationship with him.

The coming of the Spirit will bring about a New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31) and a New Law written on our hearts. The Holy Spirit now guides us from the heart, rather than merely by following an external checklist of rules. God’s forgiveness is not a contractual matter. In fact, it is impossible to earn God’s favor by being good. 

Through God’s infinite mercy, we all become adopted sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ. We are brought into communion with Christ and the Holy Spirit especially though Baptism and Holy Communion (Ephesians 3:20). God’s act of forgiveness invites us into a relationship with him, or into communion with him.

How can we build this relationship and open our hearts to receive joy?

Many saints have told us about the power of prayer. St. John Chrysostom says that “Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.”  

Likewise, our namesake, St. Thérèse of Lisieux notes, "It is the spirit of gratitude which draws down upon us the overflow of God's grace, for no sooner have we thanked Him for one blessing than He hastens to send us ten additional favors in return.”  

We must begin with the realization that God loves us, and we are his children. He desires our happiness. He will not necessarily protect us from suffering but will ultimately bring us joy. 

Yet we might ask how can we say God desires to give us joy if we end up suffering? How can Jesus be the fulfillment of all desire and yet allow us to suffer. Perhaps only those who have accompanied Jesus in the mystery of suffering can rightly bear witness to this joy. He is with us always. We are joined to him in our sufferings. He brings meaning to our sufferings.

As humans, we learn to trust in little steps. Perhaps we can begin by truthfully asking ourselves. Am I happy? Have I found joy in this life? On a spiritual level, have I tried to find joy and peace in my prayer with Jesus? I would invite you today to take a small step on this journey. 

I believe that Jesus came to bring us joy and the fulfillment of all desire! This is his promise.

I challenge each one of you to prove him wrong. If your heart is not yet ready to trust in him completely … take the first step! Open your heart in prayer. Pour out all your desires before him and let him enter your heart. 

For a longer and more detailed version of this post see The Joy of the Gospel.

____________________________________
NOTES:
[i] The original Latin introit or entrance antiphon for this Mass, sings the words of Philippians 4:4 -- Gaudete in Domino semper: “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
[ii] APA Dictionary of Psychology, https://dictionary.apa.org/joy
[iii] St Thomas, STh., II-II q.9 a.4 resp.
[iv] STh., II-II q.20 a.4 obj. 2

 

The Joy of the Gospel

Today we celebrate ‘Gaudete Sunday.’ Gaudete means ‘Rejoice.’[i] We often see our clergy wearing rose-colored vestments and we light a rose-colored candle in the Advent wreath, the candle of joy. As we journey with Our Lady towards Jesus' Nativity, we pause to celebrate the joy of this expectation.

In our first reading, Isaiah promises that when the Lord’s Servant comes to vindicate his people, he will strengthen the weak and calm the hearts of those who are frightened. His salvation will include opening the eyes of the blind, causing the deaf to hear, the lame to leap, and the mute to sing. They will enter Zion singing. The Lord will crown his people with everlasting joy. Sorrow and morning will flee, when the Lord pours out his joy and gladness upon his people. 

Joy is an affection of the soul, closely linked with the emotion of delight or the satisfaction of our desires. Joy is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and an effect of the theological virtue of charity. Psychologically the emotion of joy is a feeling of delight or extreme gladness. Even psychologists view joy as an “exultation of the spirit arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction.”[ii] Joy can be a passive sense of tranquility or an active desire to share this feeling with others.  

We can distinguish between natural joy in created things and spiritual joy which comes from a reflection on the Divine good[iii] which arises from hope. [iv] Although spiritual joy arises from hope it is also reflexive, when we are joyful, we experience greater hope. We can also experience supernatural joy as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, Romans 15:13).

As I reflect on the notion of joy, I can ask myself, do I experience joy in my faith? I need to be honest with myself about this becasue, a joyless faith is defective. 

I don’t know about you, but ‘Gaudete Sunday’ is a good time to examine my heart on my experience of joy.

Our Gospel for the Third Sunday of Advent (Matthew 11:2-11) continues to highlight John the Baptist. His life is part of the family history of Jesus and shows us the fulfillment of the Old Testament. St Matthew tells us that when John the Baptist heard from prison, about the mighty works and miracles that Jesus was performing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” (11:3). 

We each need to ask ourselves this same question. In today’s world, we cannot assume that everyone understands who Jesus is. Is Jesus the one? Do we truly believe he has come to satisfy our desires?

In answer to John the Baptist’s question, Jesus understands himself as the spirit-anointed Servant from Isaiah (11 and 61). Jesus answers John’s disciples by pointing out his fulfilment of a number of key passages from Isaiah about the Suffering Servant. Both our first reading from Isaiah 35 and our Psalm (146), highlight a number of these fulfillments, but the complete fulfillment relates to at least four sections of Isaiah.

"Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight (Isaiah 29:18; 35:5; cf. Psalm 146), the lame walk (Isaiah 35:6), lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear (Isaiah 35:5; cf. Psalm 146), the dead are raised (Isaiah 26:19), and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them (Isaiah 29:19; 61:1)” (Matthew 11:4-5). 

Jesus is not citing a single passage but showing how he fulfills Isaiah’s entire prophecy of the coming spirit-filled Servant of the Lord. In fact, he fulfills all of Scripture. Jesus has come to proclaim a new age of the Spirit (Isaiah 61:2), a year of the Lord’s favor (Isaiah 61:2). This coming of the Spirit will bring God’s people comfort, joy and gladness (Isaiah 29:19; 35:10; 61:1). 

Jesus’ mission from the Father is to be the fulfillment of all desire. This is joy! While it includes natural joy, he is primarily wanting to inspire spiritual or supernatural joy in our hearts by relationship with him.

The coming of the Spirit will bring about a New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31) and a New Law written on our hearts. The Holy Spirit now guides us from the heart, rather than merely by following an external checklist of rules. God’s forgiveness is not a contractual matter. In fact, it is impossible to earn God’s favor by being good. 

Through God’s infinite mercy, we all become adopted sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ. We are brought into communion with Christ and the Holy Spirit especially though Baptism and Holy Communion (Ephesians 3:20). God’s act of forgiveness invites us into a relationship with him, or into communion with him.

The overall theme of Advent is a time of joyful expectation and of preparation for the Lord’s coming. The person and preaching of John the Baptist invite us to prepare our hearts by repenting and renewing our commitment to the coming King. While this sounds difficult, God promises us joy!

In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks the crowds, “What did you go out to the desert to see?” 

Why did all those people go out to see John the Baptist in the desert? In today’s world, perhaps it was John’s new fad diet. Eat the John the Baptist diet, and I guarantee you will lose twenty pounds in one week. Forget the Keto diet, just eat bugs! Joking aside, Jesus says they went out to see a prophet.

John the Baptist called the people to first renew their faith as God’s children and then to respond by a baptism of repentance. Joy comes from the heart. If we separate morality from relationship and a conversion of the heart, we end up with mere joyless rule-following. We reduce the faith to duty and legalism. I promise you this is not joy!

Those who try and fail at following the rules, turn away in discouragement. Those who appear to succeed in following the rules wrongly fill themselves with pride and see themselves as ‘better rule followers’ in comparison to others. The truth is rules without relationship leads to rebellion and discouragement. It leads to a joyless faith.

Many Catholics seem to think our faith is mostly about following the rules, but again this is a joyless life. 

Alternatively, someone else might approach his or her faith like driving the speed limit on the freeway. They go as fast as they think they can get away with, without getting caught, or punished. Have you ever heard some might say, “It’s only a venial sin, it’s no big deal!”

The Catechism reminds us that God's New Covenant requires a New Law. What does this mean? The Catechism notes, “The New Law is the grace of the Holy Spirit received by faith in Christ, operating through charity” (CCC 1983). The New law operates in our hearts from within. 

In case I have made someone nervous, we are not tossing out the Ten Commandments, we are instead bringing them to perfection in a new way. The new framework is personal relationship with God and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. God calls us not to mere duty but to the joyful pursuit of happiness in relationship with him and in the power of the Spirit. Our happiness is linked to God’s own goodness. 

How can we build this relationship and open our hearts to receive joy?

Many saints have told us about the power of prayer. St. John Chrysostom says that “Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.”  

Likewise, our namesake, St. Thérèse of Lisieux notes, "It is the spirit of gratitude which draws down upon us the overflow of God's grace, for no sooner have we thanked Him for one blessing than He hastens to send us ten additional favors in return.”  

We must begin with the realization that God loves us, and we are his children. He desires our happiness. He will not necessarily protect us from suffering but will ultimately bring us joy. 

Yet we might ask how can we say God desires to give us joy if we end up suffering? How can Jesus be the fulfillment of all desire and yet allow us to suffer. Perhaps only those who have accompanied Jesus in the mystery of suffering can rightly bear witness to this joy. He is with us always. We are joined to him in our sufferings. He brings meaning to our sufferings.

As humans, we learn to trust in little steps. Perhaps we can begin by truthfully asking ourselves. Am I happy? Have I found joy in this life? On a spiritual level, have I tried to find joy and peace in my prayer with Jesus? I would invite you today to take a small step on this journey. 

I believe that Jesus came to bring us joy and the fulfillment of all desire! This is his promise.

I challenge each one of you to prove him wrong. If your heart is not yet ready to trust in him completely … take the first step! Open your heart in prayer. Pour out all your desires before him and let him enter your heart. 

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NOTES:

[i] The original Latin introit or entrance antiphon for this Mass, sings the words of Philippians 4:4 -- Gaudete in Domino semper: “Rejoice in the Lord always.”

[ii] APA Dictionary of Psychology, https://dictionary.apa.org/joy

[iii] St Thomas, STh., II-II q.9 a.4 resp.

[iv] STh., II-II q.20 a.4 obj. 2