As We Wait in JoYfuL HopE for the Coming of Our Savior

Happy Gaudete Sunday!  I'm a day late at getting this posted, but this Sunday when we light the rose colored candle on our Advent wreathes represents the JoYfuL HopE we have for the coming of our Savior. Christmas is drawing near! The celebration of the birth of our Lord is drawing near. Thus, we are to be filled with joy and thanksgiving for all the blessings in our lives and those to come. God has promised a Savior. He is about to arrive. Have we cleaned house spiritually to be ready for Him?

I can think of two times in the past few years when I have been "exuberantly joyful" and have shared such an expression with those around me. First, in late fall 2008 and early spring of 2009 this seemed to be me. I was so full of joy. The fall semester had brought on a challenge: God was calling me closer and closer to himself, and I had been running the other way for a while. Then, what (or who) I was running towards was gone. For most of September and the beginning of October I was kept myself extra busy and did not face my grief. Some where along the way, I broke (October 2 - Feast of Guardian Angels). Long story short, I attended the Prayer and Action reunion in early November, where a seminarian reminded me that pink (rose) is the color of joy in the Catholic church. I've always been a sucker for the color pink. Short story - I began to seek a deeper relationship with Christ, and even began to look into considering religious life (more about all that another time...). I was joyful.

The second occasion in which I expressed and experienced "exuberant joy" was this past January 2010. A fellow K-Stater and I were up to some spiritual mischief with green scapulars. Also, I had just returned from Christmas break, which had included a trip to Orlando, Florida for the National FOCUS conference. Hmm.

On these two occasions, I felt closer to God than most any other time in my life. That joy is something I wish I could have everyday. Those glimpses of true joy are reminders to me that God's will is being done in my life, in his time. The baby Jesus was born at the right time, and fulfilled the promise of a savior (which we see in the death and resurrection of Christ, later). On this Sunday of Joy, I refocus the hope of God's will being done in my life in His time. Pslam 138:8 "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for you."

I've just moved (today) from my student teaching location to my real job location.  I'm a college graduate. I'm at a new place in life, and have many concerns about my future. It is strange to think that I don't have to keep my boxes around, as I really might be able to live here for more than a year. None the less, I have a joyful hope for all that God will do with me here in this place. "Let it be done unto me, according to your word."

I leave you with the prayer immediately following the Our Father during Mass, when the Priest says:  Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We are reminded at every Mass we attend to wait in JoYfuL HopE, for the coming of Christ in our lives, and eventually, our arrival into eternal life. Aww-spiration.