Joy Is Not Far Away: 3rd Sunday of Advent



“The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus.” That’s how Pope Francis begins his most significant publication to date. There are lots of reasons that so many people find so much to love about Pope Francis. I’ve noticed a lot of the reasons are wrong-headed, like when Time Magazine praised him for disregarding Church dogma. That's so misguided it's almost cute; to their credit they did correct it. But one of the many right and true reasons for our Holy Father’s charm is that he really does seem to be someone who is filled with joy, filled with the joy of the Gospel.

From this first sentence of Evangelium Gaudii, we know that he wouldn’t consider this unique. The joy of the Gospel comes from encountering Jesus, and it comes to everyone who encounters Jesus. We could flip this into a corollary statement: that if someone’s life isn’t filled with the joy of the Gospel, that person simply hasn’t encountered Jesus Christ. He or she may have read lots of Scripture, may know a lot about church teachings, may have gone to years and years of Catholic school, may have a doctorate in theology… but if the joy of the Gospel isn’t to be found filling this person’s life, he or she hasn’t really encountered Jesus.


I’ll read some more from the next paragraph, stay with me here, this is densely packed: “The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real danger for believers too. Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry and listless. That is no way to live a dignified and fulfilled life; it is not God’s will for us, nor is it the life in the Spirit which has its source in the heart of the risen Christ.”

The Holy Father rails against consumerism here and elsewhere, and I shouldn’t water that down. But if consumerism is singled out for emphasis, I think he’s clearly talking about all forms of selfishness. When our interior life becomes centered on ourselves, there’s no room for others, certainly no room for the poor, and ultimately no room for God. And that temptation, felt by believers too, leaves you resentful, angry, and listless. And that, the Pope says, is no way to live.

This same theme is found in this Sunday’s readings. Isaiah, in the 35th chapter, says “Strengthen the weary hands, steady the trembling knees, and say to all faint hearts, ‘Courage! Do not be afraid. Look, your God is coming to save!” Psalm 145 praises the Lord who “raises up those who are bowed down.” The Letter of James exhorts patience for God’s salvation, like a farmer after planting who waits for the rain. And Jesus deals with John the Baptist’s question: “Are you the one?”

The Scriptures, like Pope Francis, openly acknowledge the difficulties that faith and joy can come up against. Those dark times “when God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades.” The times when we need courage, strengthening, patience. But the remedy is not complicated. Quoting the Pope again, “I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day.” 

Joy is there for everyone, it’s all about knowing where to look. But we get distracted, confused about what we expect to bring us joy. There was a study back in the late '70s, usually known as the Brickman study, that looked into what makes people happy and unhappy. The authors selected two life-changing events that they thought most people would expect to impact their happiness pretty severely, in opposite directions: they looked at people who had become severely disabled in auto accidents, and they looked at lottery winners. They asked them to rate their happiness in the past, the present, and the future, and they also looked into how much pleasure the subjects took in everyday things.

Initially, things were pretty much as you’d guess. Lottery winners were ecstatic, and paraplegics and quadriplegics were devastated. But after several months when they were interviewed again, things got a little surprising. Lottery winners’ happiness had gone way down. Sometimes it was slightly higher than before the life-changing event, but mainly about the same. Maybe that surprises you, maybe it doesn’t. A lot of us claim to know that money doesn’t bring happiness, but some of us say we know that and consistently act as though we didn’t.

What about that other kind of life-changing event? This one might surprise you more. People who had been suddenly paralyzed in car accidents, after several months, were also just about as happy as before the accidents. Some were less. A few were actually more. But generally about the same.

There were methodological weaknesses to this study, but it’s at least very suggestive. The things we might expect to bring happiness way up or way down might not, in the long run. Even the biggest kinds of life-changing events might not change your life as much as you think. What will change your life? Encountering Jesus Christ. Every day. Go ahead and buy that lottery ticket if you like, and for God’s sake please drive as carefully as you can, but make no mistake about what will ultimately make your life happy or unhappy.

Someone might say, “I know such-and-such a person who is not Christian at all, but seems really pretty happy.” And I’d respond by promising you that if this person is happy, then this person is following Jesus in some way - even without knowing it. If this person is happy, I guarantee you his or her life is defined more by others than by self. I guarantee you that his or her life is oriented around truth, beauty, goodness, and love. And to know those things is to know Christ by another name.

But that doesn’t mean knowing Christ by name is unnecessary or irrelevant. I don’t know how to prove it to someone who doubts it; I can only say that anyone who has truly encountered Christ in their lives will witness. He’s the answer to the question that is every human life. He’s the Alpha and Omega, the source and the fulfillment, the secret fire at the center of things. And we should want for everyone to live their lives as close to that fire as possible!

I’ll let the Pope wrap this all up, making the connection between the joy of the Gospel and the drive to evangelize: “Thanks solely to this encounter – or renewed encounter – with God’s love, which blossoms into an enriching friendship, we are liberated from our narrowness and self-absorption. We become fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being. Here we find the source and inspiration of all our efforts at evangelization. For if we have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share that love with others?”


We can’t. We have to share the joy of the Gospel. And there is no substitute for being people who shine with that joy, that contagious joy of those who have encountered Jesus Christ.

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