The Season of Joy!

12-20-2020From the PastorFr. Emmanuel Ihemedu

This is a very challenging time for all of us. The uncertainties and hardship that this pandemic has placed on so many families can rob us of the joy that God intended it to bring in our lives.

Perhaps for you this season has become a time of loneliness and sadness because of the loss of a loved one. Perhaps this pandemic is devastating for you and your family; perhaps you are grieving the loss of your former way of life. No matter what your condition may be, there is reason to be joyful.

Even as our lives are turned upside down, you can still have inner joy and peace. That is what God intended the coming of Jesus to bring us. Luke 1:14 tells us that: “You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at His birth.” At the visitation, the angel says to Mary: “Do not be afraid, I bring good news of great joy which will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10).

It is in God’s plan that the birth of Jesus be a source of great joy and gladness for us. This incredible joy is rooted in the fact that his coming is to make all things right and rectify our relationship with the Father and give meaning and purpose to our life here on earth and ultimately make us children of the resurrection in the life to come.

The joy that Christmas brings is different from happiness. Happiness is an emotional state that depends on external events. Whereas the joy of Christmas peers through! It wells up within us and in itself breathes life to a withering us; even the soul of the wicked is made to rejoice and to seek a moment of kind light-heartedness: and that comes from light; it enlivens us from out-of-the-blue; it transcends us, everything around us and everything we do. Why? The answer is that the joy of Christmas not only averts storms but spiritually weathers all storms, in a wondrous magical way.

How it actually does this is one of those mysteries of faith; but we know that it is the spiritual state that the prophet Habakkuk speaks of when he says: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength,” (Hab 3:17-18).

Neither the Covid-19 pandemic, nor the hardship it brings can take away this joy that surpasses all human understanding. Covid may succeed in ruining our lives, and leaving us all desolate, but it can never take Jesus away from us. It was this state of joy that despite being stripped of everything that made life worthwhile inspired Job to reach down within him for a faith that proclaimed, “I know that my redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). Our redeemer lives. He is here to hold our hands, and to help us (Isa 41:13).

Even though nothing seems enough to console you, or fill the yearning of your soul, even though it appears you have lost everything, I say: Sing in the spirit of Christmas, and the joy, through faith, shall stand fast to guard your mind and your heart because the Lord is with you (Psalm 23).

About 300 years ago, Isaac Watts authored one of the most joyous Christmas carols of our time, in which he proclaimed, “Joy to the World.” Without the Joy to our World Christmas season would be bereft of its authentic flavor and also of a true essence of our celebration.

So, today, I too proclaim the joy of Christmas unto you! I proclaim the divine promise of joy, the joy from heaven, unto your life and unto your family: For the Lord is come, in Jesus name, Amen!

Merry Christmas to all of you! Fr. Emmanuel Ihemedu