School of the Word
A Season of Peace, Joy, Love 2/3: Joy
by Sr. Monika
Passages:
When the angel came to her, he said, “Rejoice, favoured one! The Lord is with you!” She was greatly troubled by these words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. The Holy Spirit will come over you…Look, even in her old age, your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son….for nothing is impossible for God.” Then Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word be fulfilled in me.”
(Lk 1:28-38)
During those days, Mary arose and set out to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leapt in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
(Lk 1:39-45)
Pope Francis’ quotes:
“[Christian joy] is not the joy held out by today’s individualistic and consumerist culture. Consumerism only bloats the heart. It can offer occasional and passing pleasures, but not joy.”
“Joy is not expressed the same way at all times in life, especially at moments of great difficulty. Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved…We all have to let the joy of faith slowly revive as a quiet yet firm trust…This joy is God’s gift. It is not an easy joy; it is not born of convenient solutions to problems; it does not avoid the cross but springs from the certainty that the Lord never leaves us alone.”
“With the love of a father, God tells us…to be positive, grateful and uncomplicated.”
Reflections:
- What is God’s message for me tonight?
- How am I invited to be joyful this Advent?
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