Last Sunday was the third Sunday in Advent, also known as Gaudete
Sunday. Gaudete is Latin for ‘rejoice’ and the third candle is the pink/rose
coloured one (the other three are red). But
why pink? One source I consulted notes, “Long ago
the Pope would honor a citizen with a pink rose (or a rose rose?) Priests then
would wear pink vestments as a reminder of this coming joy.”
I have, in the past, pondered the difference between joy and
happiness and I don’t think I have a complete handle on the difference. As far as I can determine, happiness is a
reaction to specific events and joy is a state of being. When we sing the carol “Joy to the World the
Lord is come,” it means that we are declaring that the world is in a state of
joy as the Prince of Peace is born.
However, he is not the Prince of Joy as that is the state we experience
when peace reigns in the world.
In any case. I have been, not surprisingly, encountering joy
in many things I have read in the last few days. The
Advent reflection for December 17th which I receive in my inbox notes
that we have the anticipation of joy when we consider the birth of the Christ child:
As we move toward the manger, we sing with great gladness.
The song is ancient, sung by the heavenly host and repeated by the shepherds as
they traveled to see the Christ child. Glory to God in the highest. O come let
us adore Him. The song carries the weight of the hope of believers through the
ages. It is a song of expectation, of anticipation, of joy and wonder.
In another case, I was drawn to reading The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen which explores the painting
by Rembrandt of the parable. The
painting came up in my session with my Spiritual Director. Nouwen notes that the joy experienced on the return
of the prodigal son was driven out by the resentment felt by the older brother:
But this shout of joy cannot be received. Instead of relief and gratitude, the servant’s
joy summons up the opposite: “He was angry then and refused to go in.” Joy and resentment cannot coexist. The music and dancing, instead of inviting
joy, became a cause for even greater withdrawal.
Nouwen notes that he had experienced a similar reaction as
that of the older brother:
But my anger was so great at not being told about the party
that I couldn’t stay. All of my inner complaints
about not being accepted, liked, and love surged up in me, and I left the room,
slammed the door behind me. I was
completely incapacitated―unable to receive and participate in the joy that was there. In an instance, the joy in that room had
become a sense of resentment.
So, other than giving
up the comfortable feeling of resentment, how do we achieve joy? One clue was in the prayers of the people on Sunday. In the prayers we give thanks for many things;
for being called to be the people of God, for the community of faith throughout
the world, the privileged of ministering to others, and for the countless gifts
of God we have received. Giving thanks to
God in all things. This will go a long way to experiencing joy.
Nouwen notes that it can be a choice, “Every moment of each
day I have the chance to choose between cynicism and joy. Every thought I have can be cynical or joyful. Every word I speak can be cynical or joyful.” I believe that this is a great part of a
joyful life. However, in no way is it
easy and should not be made to seem so.
I do not have a natural inclination to joy. That is part of who I am. I think many people are not naturally joyful
and it does take a conscious effort to cultivate joy in one’s life. Giving thanks to God in (not for but in) all
things is the way to approach it, even if it doesn’t seem to come naturally to
many of us. Thanks be to God.
Blessings on you journey and may your experience be one of joy.
No comments:
Post a Comment