Repeat the Sounding Joy

The Christmas season is filled with carols telling the world to be joyous. We are called to “repeat the sounding joy,” bring “joy to the world, or live in “comfort and joy.” These songs could be sung repeatedly for months on end but, after the songs come off the radio, do we really understand what it means to have joy within us? A friend of mine recently described joy to me as, “the knowledge that we are loved immensely by God despite our shortcomings or failures.” I believe this is the best definition of joy, for, even if we are not in a state of happiness or if we are surrounded by suffering, we could still be possessed by the conviction that we are loved unconditionally and this will always provide joy.

Christmas should especially give us joy for God, the supreme Power and Creator of the universe, overcome with immense love, chose to humble himself and became an impoverished infant to share in our humanity and die a criminal’s death so that we could be with Him forever. Think about it: God, the Uncaused Cause of all existence, the Being who is, who was, and who will ever be, the Person who existed alone in the Trinity before all else was, and who created the universe out of a desire to share His infinite being with the created and finite, decides to enter His creation in the form of an impoverished baby so as to show us, like a good and loving father, how to be human. God’s immense desire to be with His creation and then His act of humility in leaving His kingdom and coming into the world is the greatest love story in existence. This love story involves every being in humanity in a unique way. Christ delights in us and loves you and me individually and far more than any other human being even has the capacity to love. The grandeur of this love is shown in God’s infinite humility at Christmas and it should cause us to sing with resounding joy.

May the sweet baby Jesus fill your hearts and homes with immense joy throughout this Christmas season and always.

Emily Cardie is a sign of the power of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts that creates Catholic sisterhood. Although she does not live in Household (we're working on it!) she has a strong faith that contributes to our community via email and now blog post. After all, any friend of Theresa's is a friend of ours! Emily is an occupational therapy program student at Thomas Jefferson University