Reflection
The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice.
Isaiah 35:1-6
In the midst of darkness as the sun sinks to its lowest point, in the midst of the longing and hope of advent, we are reminded to rejoice. We can rejoice because we know that what we hope for has already happened. The Divine has been made visible. The Mystery we call God has been known in Jesus. Although, as Christians, we believe that through Jesus God has been known most fully, we also believe that God is revealed through all creation. We rejoice because the Light of the World has come and still shines in the darkness of this world. We join with the “desert and parched land” hoping for them to bloom again and embracing each facet of creation as a revelation of the God who is already with us.
Prayer
Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!
Phil.4:4-7
Action
Try to live aware of God’s presence everywhere. How do you see God in the teaching of Jesus? How do you see God revealed in creation? How consistent are your beliefs and actions with this?
Suggested Reading
The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy…
say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear; your God will come…
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
Isaiah 35:1-6
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.
Phil 4:4-7
Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures,even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that,when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved.
Pope Francis
Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.
Henri Nouwen
I cannot believe that the inscrutable universe turns on an axis of suffering; surely the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure joy!
Louise Bogan
It is now, at Advent, that I am given the chance to suspend all expectation…and instead to revel in the mystery.
Jerusalem Jackson Greer
Joy is not necessarily the absence of suffering; it is the presence of God.
Sam Storms
True joy results when we become aware of our connectedness to everything.
Paul Pearsall
What is, is simply what is. Allow it and rejoice in it.
Deepak Chopra
If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.
Eleonora Dus