ADVENT Gospel for Thursday December 12 Third Week of Advent Luke 1:39-47
During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” 46 And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; 47 my spirit rejoices in God my savior”.
REFLECTION
This Advent, when I hear this Gospel, I long to be as joyful as John the Baptist in his mother’s womb leaping for joy at the sound of Mary’s greeting. I know the difference between joy and happiness, and it is joy I long for. Happiness is a fleeting feeling; an emotion. Joy is cultivated from within and is a state of being. Joy comes from the depths of the soul; happiness from the brain.
Joy comes from being filled with one’s heart’s desire. Perhaps it is appropriate that the baby who would become John the Baptist and the baby who would become the Savior of the World should first meet while each is in the womb. The depth of joy they must have felt at meeting for the first time would be too much for words. Human words betray this depth of joy.
There is also a deep place in my soul, in all our souls, that leaps for joy at the sound of Jesus coming. This is what I want to cultivate this Advent season – Joy. I want to take time to listen to the deep joy inside and pay attention to what it does to me, how it affects my attitude, my relations with others and my buoyancy in a troubled world.
Without being noisy or attention-seeking, joy drowns out; the sorrow, stress, fatigue, and busyness these days might bring. Perhaps that has to do with humility again. That quality seems to keep coming up this Advent season. While happiness is inward-looking, joy is outward-looking. Joy rejoices in others, in goodness, and in Christ presence in the world. Joy is the deep knowledge that everything is happening as it should.
Joy and hope are close companions and are often found together in the hearts of the humble. May we be humble this Advent and realize the joy that comes from meeting Jesus this Advent season.
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