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Joy
and How to Get It
December
15, 2002 Homily
Fr. George Smiga
John
11:6 - 8, 19 - 28
Joy and
how to get it. That is what all the readings today point to.
"Rejoice always," Paul tells us in a letter to the
Thessalonians. Both John the Baptist and Isaiah show us how
to find that joy when they say, "Make straight the way
of the Lord." God is coming and bringing joy. What we
need to do is remove all the obstacles that might stand in
God's way-to "make straight the way of the Lord."
This is
where things get difficult. Because, as much as we want joy,
it is not easy to remove the obstacles from the Lord's way.
In fact, it is one of the ironies of the holiday season that
the very traditions that we use to build up our joy, can in
fact block it. You know what I am talking about. We all have
holiday traditions, expectations that we feel we must meet
during the next week or so.
We want
to decorate our homes for Christmas. So we go out and buy
a tree. We set it up. We put lights on it. We put ornaments
on it. We hang up the wreath. We put lights on our roof, lights
on our shrubbery. We set the manger out. We breathe a sigh
of relief. We did it. It's done. But, where is the joy?
We want
to exchange gifts at Christmas time to show the gift that
Christ is for us. So we wrack our brains trying to think what
people want. We run to the mall. We buy presents. We take
them home. We wrap them up. We put them under the tree. On
Christmas morning we un-wrap them. We thank everyone for giving
them to us. We throw the wrapping away. We take the gifts
the mall to exchange them. We have honored the tradition.
We did it. But, where is the joy?
It's one
of the ironies of this season that the very things that we
do to increase joy at times prevent joy. We are so busy celebrating
Christmas that we effectively block Christ's coming. So the
question is what can we do about this? How can we avoid the
irony of defeating our own good intentions? It's a good question,
and you are fortunate that I have a suggestion. (It is
just one of the innumerable benefits that are yours because
you are parishioners of St. Noel and have chosen to come to
Church this weekend.) I have a very concrete, practical
suggestion of how you might deepen the joy of this holiday
season. It has to do with Christmas dinner. You know, already,
who is going to be sharing Christmas dinner with you. You
have the list. What I am going to suggest is that this week
you get in touch with those people, and ask them to bring
something with them when they come to eat. Not a vegetable.
Not a dessert. But a memory.
Ask the
people that are coming to your Christmas dinner to bring with
them an answer to this question: "What is your deepest
memory of Christmas?" The question is intentionally vague.
What "deepest" means is up to the person who answers
it. Some might choose to share a memory of the Christmas on
which they received the biggest present. Others might choose
a Christmas on which they needed the most courage. Still others
might select a Christmas on which they were most thankful
or when they recognized what the true meaning of Christmas
is. Whatever answers people bring are acceptable. Then make
sure that sometime during Christmas dinner you provide a time
to simply go around the table and let everyone share their
memory. Some might do it in just a few sentences. Others might
choose to embellish it a bit. It is, however, my conviction
that if you do this simple exercise, you will deepen the joy
of the holiday. More importantly, you will "Make straight
the way of the Lord."
Now, why
do I say that? It flows from what we believe. We believe that
Jesus is Emmanuel: God with us. In this season we celebrate
the mystery that God became human in Jesus. We believe that
God continues to be found in our humanity, in our relationships,
in our connectedness to one another. So whenever we share
ourselves with one another, whenever we tell one another what
is really in our hearts, God is there. Joy is there.
That is
why the holiday traditions do not work on their own. We can
spend all kinds of money and time buying special foods and
preparing them for Christmas dinner, but the joy is not in
the food. The joy is in the people. The simple exercise that
I am suggesting provides a way in which families can talk
to one another. It allows them to see something of what the
people they love really value. How important it is for children
to hear what their parents value about Christmas. For all
that we do for our children, how important it is to hear what
they remember. What a gift it would be for everyone to hear
what Grandma remembers, perhaps from a time before all of
us were born. What a surprise for us to hear what our six
year old remembers from last Christmas - a Christmas that
we have already forgotten.
"What
is your deepest memory of Christmas?" It is a simple
question, but it is a spiritual question. Because when we
reveal the truth that is within us, we reveal God within us.
It is not the money that we spend or the traditions that we
honor, but the truth that we share that "Makes straight
the way of the Lord."
So take
some steps to make sure that you have a way of sharing truth
with the people you love this Christmas. Take some time to
share yourself. It will not be a wasted effort. Because when
we share who we are, what we value, what we believe with each
other, we not only find joy. We also find Christ.
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