3rd Sunday of Advent 2024 - Surprised by Joy

 Happy Gaudete Sunday, everyone. Today, we rejoice because the Lord is near.

Joy is certainly one of the virtues we most associate with Christmas. I can hardly wait to hear the choir burst into “Joy to the World” at Christmas Mass.

The mid-20th century author C.S. Lewis wrote about joy. Though he is best known for his children’s books like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and his Christian apologetics like Mere Christianity, he also wrote a remarkable book on joy titled "Surprised by Joy."

In it, Lewis reflects on how the virtue of joy, which we all desire and crave, seems so elusive. We are all searching for it, yet few find enduring joy because, as Lewis explains, most people make the mistake of looking for joy “out there” in material things, as if it can be purchased, accumulated, or obtained from the correct alignment of earthly circumstances. Rather, true joy, he insists, is not found in externals. Rather, joy is found in God who is near to us.

And Lewis wrote from experience, for “Surprised by Joy” is, in part, a spiritual autobiography that chronicles key periods of his childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. Rather than a straightforward life story, it focuses on the inner intellectual and emotional currents that led him first away from his childhood faith into atheism, and then—much later—back to Christianity.

Lewis identifies several factors that contributed to his youthful rejection of faith. First, the death of his beloved mother shook his trust in God. He had prayed desperately for her recovery, but she died despite his pleas, leaving him feeling abandoned by the God he was taught to trust. Like many Christians who fall away, grief and personal tragedy often play a role in the loss of faith.

As Lewis grew older, he encountered philosophical and literary works that challenged the existence of God and the truth of religious beliefs. Exposure to rationalist and materialist thought—through peers, teachers, and the books he read—cultivated a mindset that prized logic, scientific explanation, and empirical evidence over openness to infinite mystery.  

Moreover, the Christianity of his childhood seemed sentimental and shallow to him—little more than comforting stories and moral lessons. Without deep theological grounding, he began to see this early faith as naïve and unexamined. Disillusioned, he turned to what he perceived as a more mature, intellectually honest worldview: atheism. But, though atheism appeared more rational, it did not address the persistent ache he would later recognize as a clue pointing beyond himself.

In time, however, a series of influences and experiences led Lewis to reconsider his atheism and open himself to authentic Christian faith. As the title of his book suggests, joy played a central role in this transformation.

Lewis confesses that he had long been haunted by “Joy”. Though he experienced glimpses of joy in his childhood, and reading, traveling to beautiful vistas, and time with family. Initially, he tried to satisfy this longing through art, philosophy, and pleasures of various kinds, but nothing gave him lasting fulfillment. Over time, he began to suspect that this longing pointed to something real and transcendent—something beyond the merely material world.

He started reading Christian authors like G.K. Chesterton, who presented a version of Christianity that was robust, imaginative, and intellectually stimulating, far different from the simplistic faith of his childhood. Christian friends at Oxford—such as J.R.R. Tolkien—helped guide him toward a Christianity that addressed both heart and mind. In the end, the surprise was that “Joy” itself served as a clue leading him to God. All his earlier attempts to find joy in art, nature, stories, and entertainment revealed themselves as signposts, not the source. The true source of joy was something far greater and more real than he had ever imagined—God Himself.

I mention Lewis’s journey because each of us is searching for joy. We are not imagining this longing. We crave more than ordinary pleasures because even the best things in this world leave us wanting something deeper.

This is why Lewis’s insight is an important lesson for Advent. We should seek the joy our hearts truly desire—the joy that can only be found in Jesus Christ who is near. “Rejoice, the Lord is near,” St. Paul tells us this weekend. It answers Lewis’s question: Where can joy be found? Joy is found in the Lord, who draws near to us.

So, how do we draw close to the Lord that we may come to experience Christian joy more deeply? What can we learn from Lewis? His conversion did not come through blind emotion or unthinking acceptance. Instead, he engaged reason, logic, and remained open to mystery. He wrestled with hard questions, examined his doubts honestly, and allowed Truth to guide him. He opened himself to beauty, music, and art. He read Christian thinkers and spent time with intellectually honest Christian friends. He engaged his whole person to seek a mature faith. Honest inquiry, deep longing, humble listening, appreciation of beauty, engagement of his whole self, and supportive community all led him, despite life’s tragedies, to discover that God was nearer than he ever thought possible.

On this Gaudete Sunday, let’s refuse to settle for cheap imitations of joy. While we may be tempted to seek to satisfy our longing for joy in the materialism of this season, our hearts are made for something—and Someone—far greater. In these final days before Christmas, seek the One who meets us in the stillness and poverty of Bethlehem. His is birth in straw poverty remains us that HE is the only thing necessary. HE is the source of joy. So, we must seek Him in heartfelt prayer, in the beauty of sacred music and quiet reflection, in friendships that nurture our faith, in works of charity, in the Word that lights our way.

Prayerfully and intentionally open your heart to the Christ Child, the only one who can satisfy our insatiable longing for true and lasting joy. This Advent, our longing for the joyful encounter with Christ can be a bright star in the darkness leading us to the stable where Joy Himself—the Lord who is near—awaits, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

3rd Sunday of Advent 2020 - Undeniable Joy

 

Joy is the virtue most associated with Christmas.  And liturgically, the Church shows that we can barely hold back our joy that Christmas is so near.  Even in the priest’s vestments and the third candle on the advent wreath, we combine purple, the advent Color, and white, the Christmas color, to give us the rose color that is unique to this Gaudete Sunday. We rejoice, for the Lord is near.

What is joy?  C.S. Lewis, the wonderful Christian author, well-known for his “Chronicles of Narnia”, books like “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” wrote a sort of spiritual autobiography, in which he details his conversion to Christianity from Atheism—a book titled “Surprised by Joy”. In it, Lewis describes how every human being who’s ever existed desires joy—we crave it, we are on an eternal quest for joy—an insight certainly consistent with the likes of Augustine and Aquinas.  Yet, joy, Lewis admits, seems to be the most elusive of the virtues: we are all searching for it, but few seem to find enduring joy.  The authentically and fully joyful person is rare.  

Lewis explains that joy is often so elusive and hard to find, because so many people are looking for joy “out there”— in things—as if joy can be acquired if I just obtain the right object, or the right amount of cash in my bank account, in some earthly thing or activity or set of circumstances. Earthly pleasures are inadequate substitutes for the joy was so long for. 

This is why I think we are sort of relieved when Christmas is over.  We become so focused on the earthly busyness—shopping, decorating, and baking, and the material things like playstations, and televisions and new wardrobe, that when everything is over we are left exhausted.  

No, “Joy does not come from out there,” Lewis says, rather “Joy comes from in here.”  Joy comes into the heart when we are in right relationship with God—joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Only when the heart is firmly planted in Christ and doing the works of Christ, will the fruit of joy truly bloom.

No doubt the saints are the great exemplars of Joy. I think, particularly of St. Clare of Assisi. Saint Clare is a great example of one who knew that joy is not found in things but in falling in love with Christ.  Clare was the modern day equivalent of a princess: living in a castle, betrothed to a prince, she had every material thing should could have wanted—fancy dresses, servants to wait on her.  Yet, she, like St. Francis, gave up all of her earthly possessions in order to possess true joy through a life of prayer—by learning to keep the focus of her heart, not on a million passing things, but on the one thing—the one person that matters most.  

The cloistered nuns over on Rocky River Dr, the Poor Clares follow the example of St. Clare, they live in cloister—separate from the world of things—to dedicate themselves to prayerful adoration of the Lord.  These nuns, the Poor Clares, through the Vows of their Religious Profession, consecrate their entire lives to Adoring Jesus Christ  in the Eucharist, as St. Clare did in simplicity, prayer, penance, and seclusion. 

This group of women, the Poor Clares along with the hundreds of cloistered orders around the world, from an earthly point of view, should be very sad.  They don’t have any money, the sisters individually don’t have bank accounts or a check book. The sisters don’t have any personal possessions—they’ve probably never even held a cell phone or ipad or watched Netflix.  They aren’t free to go out to the movie theater or to a baseball game or to the opera or to take a vacation to the Bahamas or Disney World.  

From an earthly point of view, the Poor Clares should have no joy.  But yet—they’re full of joy—they are always smiling, they are always laughing, they always have an uplifting, encouraging word—you count yourself blessed for having met them.

Sure, the accumulation of things and degrees and awards and notoriety bring us some passing satisfaction.  But the poor Clares and many like them are full of joy not because of what they obtained out there, but cultivating of fiery love for Jesus Christ in here. 

Another important thing to remember about Joy is that it Joy is a virtue, that means it increases and increases the more we practice it and cultivate it.  

I heard of a young priest, newly ordained, who was considering leaving the priesthood, because after less than a year he hadn’t developed perfect joy. Visiting the sick and teaching catechism and celebrating the sacraments didn’t bring him this ecstasy that he thought it was going to. The honeymoon phase was over, as we say. But, the older priests will tell you that, joy doesn’t just happen overnight, it is cultivated, and must be done patiently. 

Real joy is obtained only after persevering through a period of dryness, remaining faithful to God in the midst of the spiritual battle, when we resist the temptation to seek our happiness in those passing satisfactions. 

Joy is possible. Our religion works, if you work it. As they say. 

I saw a recently published study about mental health in our country after a these months and months of COVID. The article examined the mental health and experience of depression amongst different segments of our current society, and it was abundantly clear that the one real group in this country whose mental health is pretty good right now are people who go to church every week and pray every day. 

How is this possible? Because our religion works. Our faith puts us in contact with the source of joy and helps us identify the attitudes and behaviors that diminish joy. Christians take St. paul at his word, when he writes, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks” and we find that it works. 

Fasting from things you don’t need. Persevering daily in prayer. Even in difficult times turning to God with grateful hearts for the blessings which fill our lives. Finding new and creative ways to engage in the works of charity despite our limitations, it works.  It brings a joy that can’t be found in a pill or a playstation. You see less divorce among Catholics who go to Church every Sunday, you see less drug use and alcoholism, you see less addiction, and this new report shows that you see less mental health decline during a time of turmoil. 

Now that doesn’t mean we have less drama, or less tragedy, or less suffering, in fact, maybe just the opposite. And yet, fidelity to the doctrines and practices of our faith brings a resiliency and a joy that even the scientific community finds intriguing. 

Joy is a net which catches souls. It is the undeniable sign of the Holy Spirit in one’s life. So cultivate joy. Pray daily. Persevere through the dry times. Don’t stop praying just because it gets hard. Practice the works of charity. Don’t stop looking for ways to give and to help those in need just because COVID places certain limitations on our activity. God provides plenty of opportunities for us to grow in Joy even during times of captivity and persecution.

Throughout these final weeks of Advent, may the Holy Spirit free us from all that diminishes our joy, may he preserve us throughout times of discouragement, that we may cultivate true, authentic, and undeniable Christian joy as we await the coming of Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

November 22 2019 - St. Cecilia - Courage of the Martyrs

When we celebrate the feasts of the martyrs, like St. Cecilia, we do so for a number of reasons. First, to give thanksgiving and praise to God. We join our lives to theirs through this act of divine worship. For the martyrs came to altars just like ours. They thanked God for the salvation of their souls just like we are doing. And from this altar they received the body and blood of Jesus that nourished their souls, that helped them to love Jesus so much that they were willing to die for Him.

Secondly, we celebrate the martyrs for their example of courage. As we’ve been reading through the Maccabees this whole week, these acts of heroic faith echo through the centuries, inspiring us to be faithful when we are tempted, setting good example for young people, that their lives may be ordered to seek after that which is most important, a vibrant relationship with God that directs the whole of their lives.

And of all the virtues of the martyrs it is certainly their courage that we seek to emulate. C.S. Lewis
wrote that “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” If we are to practice any of the virtues of the Christian life: faith, hope, love, prudence, temperance, and fortitude, we need courage to practice any of them.

We need courage to have faith: to believe that God exists even though we have no empirical proof of his existence, to believe in he testimony of the apostles that Jesus is risen, we need courage to believe that we are truly forgiven of our sins. We need to have courage to hope, that amidst all the chaos and evil in the world, the goodness of Christ will triumph. We need to have courage to love, to go beyond self-preservation and self-interest and caring for others, looking to their needs instead of only our own.

Courage is needed for the Christian Life, and the martyrs like Cecilia, remind us of that, and pray from their place in heaven, that we may be courageous when our faith, hope, and live are tried.

While Cecilia was imprisoned and being tortured for her faith, she continued to speak of the saving Gospel and to sing God’s praises. She is known as the patron saint of musicians, because by her courage her life became a powerful song of witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

May her prayers and example aid us in having courage in the face of all trial for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Pope and all bishops and priests may lead the church in the courage practice and proclamation of the saving Gospel of Christ.

That parents may be models of courageous faith for their children, and center their family life on the Gospel through worship, prayer, and charity.

For members of our parish faced with temptations and trials, that they will choose faith and know the strength and peace of God.

That through the intercession of St. Cecilia, in thanksgiving for our parish musicians, that their lives may be blessed as they develop and share their talents for the glory of God.

That Christ the Good Shepherd will draw close to all who suffer, the sick, the needy, victims of injustice, and the dying.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for those whose names are written in our parish book of the names of the dead, all deceased members of St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, and our deceased family members and friends, deceased clergy and religious, those who fought and died for our freedom and for X. for whom this mass is offered.
O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

Homily: Tuesday - 2nd Week of Lent 2017 - Holy Self-Forgetfulness

Do you remember the Gospel of Ash Wednesday? We hear it every year.

"Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them…When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them…When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.” Right at the beginning of Lent, Jesus condemns activity which draws attention to ourselves, instead of helping us turn our attention to God.

In the Gospel today, Jesus again condemns the scribes and Pharisees for using their positions of teaching the faith to draw attention not to God, but to themselves. As Jesus said, “They do all their deeds to be seen by men.” They sought the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues and reverent titles. They were guilty of pride and vanity. They had forgotten the one whom they were supposed to be serving—God.

Rather the attitude and the behavior of the Christian is to turn ourselves to God, in order to bring others to God. This is the reason why Jesus places such great emphasis on humility, who came not to do his own will, but the will of the one who sent Him. He indeed shows us what humility looks like, on the cross

C.S. Lewis wrote, “By this virtue [of humility], as by all others, [God] wants to turn [our] attention away from self, to Him and [to our] neighbors.” Humility is not a matter of thinking less of ourselves—but less about ourselves, forgetting ourselves and turning outward in love. Not thinking less of ourselves, but less about ourselves.

Vanity and pride are so deadly because they turn our focus away from God to how look, how we appear, how others think of us. We live in a truly vain age—where there is greater concern for how many ‘likes’ one gets on facebook or youtube or followers one has on twitter, and less concern over the state of the soul.

The Pharisees are not gone: they’ve simply got new jobs as politicians, journalists, college professors, social justice warriors, internet stars, and perhaps even some priests, and are virtue-signaling like never before—appearing to be concerned about the poor rather than actually serving the poor and actually growing in virtue.

Rather, God calls us to engage in self-forgetful practices: the sort of prayer and charitable service where self is forgotten and Christ is discovered.

May our Lenten observances humble our earthly pride and vanity and bring us that holy self-forgetfulness which deepens our communion with God and neighbor for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For greater devotion in our Lenten prayer, greater self-restraint in our Lenten fasting, and greater selflessness in our Lenten almsgiving.

That civil leaders will use their authority to protect the dignity of human life and the well-being of the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed, those who suffer from discrimination, and the unborn.  We pray to the Lord.

For the grace to turn away from all that keeps us from deeper communion with the Holy Trinity.
For those preparing to enter the Church at Easter, that these weeks of Lent may bring them purification and enlightenment in the ways of Christ.  We pray to the Lord.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation or illness: that the tenderness of the Father’s love will comfort them.  We pray to the Lord.