AN INNER ECHO
CALLED, “JOY!”

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “An Inner Echo Called ‘Joy!’”

As you know the middle Sunday in both Advent and Lent echo the theme of “Joy.” The old names in Latin were “Gaudete Sunday” for the Third Sunday in Advent, today, and “Laetare Sunday” for the Fourth Sunday in Lent. The antiphons and readings echo the theme of joy.

As you know one of the great Christmas hymns is, “Joy to the World, the Lord has Come.” Some people who say they never sing in church, start singing when the Christmas song, “Joy to the World” begins.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come.

QUESTIONAIRE – 10 QUESTIONS

Here are 10 questions on the theme of joy:

1) What were the ten most joyful moments in your life so far – and list them in order of importance – 1 being the best?

2) What brings you joy?

3) Do you ever sing in the shower or when you are in your car all by yourself?

4) Tell me about a moment you brought joy to the heart of another?

5) Who is the most joyful person you met in your life so far?

6) Without using a mirror, are you aware when there is a smile on your face or when there is a scowl on your face?

7) For some people Christmas brings back joyful memories; for some people, Christmas has sorrowful memories? Please explain?

8) Now that we have 4 sets of mysteries to our rosary, did you ever notice that 3 out of 4 are positive? That’s 15 mysteries or life experiences that are upbeat – and only 5 that deal with sorrow and suffering. How about the mysteries of your life?

9) Which has the greatest impact on the joy level of a person: they are an oldest child, a youngest child, an only child, the only boy, the only girl, they are a middle child, they have or had fun parents, they have a happy marriage, they have a child, they have children, they have a job they love to get out of bed to go to, they are retired, they have money in the bank, one’s kids are happily married, they have grandkids, they have faith, they have a great mother-in-law, other?

10) How would you define or describe joy?

QUOTATIONS – 20 QUOTATIONS ON JOY

I had 10 questions, so I decided to come up with 10 good quotes on joy. I found so many – that it was difficult in even getting them down to these 20.

“Joy is the echo of God within us.” Leon Bloy

“All I can say about life is, Oh God, enjoy it.” Bob Newhart

“A person will be called to account on Judgment Day for every permissible thing one might have enjoyed but did not.” Talmud

“Did you bring joy?” / “Did you find joy?” Egyptian god Osiris asks those who come to him after death.

“Joy is the flag you fly when the Prince of Peace is in residence within your heart.” Wilfred Peterson

“When at night you cannot sleep, talk to the Shepherd and stop counting the sheep.” Anon

“Cana of Galilee ... Ah, that sweet miracle! It was not people's grief, but their joy Christ visited, He worked his first miracle to help people’s gladness.” — Feodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazou, 1880

“Do you prefer that you right, or that you are happy?” A Course in Miracles

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” Robert Brault

“Enjoy yourself. These are the ‘good old days’ you’re going to miss in the years ahead.” Anonymous

“Joy is when you find a parking space. Euphoria is when there is time in the meter.” Toledo Blade, Jan. 27, 1998

“Love and work – these are the basics. Without them there is neurosis.” Theodore Reik

“We are made for happiness, and anyone who is completely happy has a right to say to himself or herself, ‘I am doing God’s will on earth.’” Anton Chekhov

“Should we not see that lines of laughter about the eyes are just as much marks of faith as are the line of care and seriousness? Is it only earnestness that is baptized? Is laughter pagan? We have already allowed too much that is good to be lost to the church and cast many pearls before swine. A church is in a bad way when it banishes laughter from the sanctuary and leaves it to the cabaret, the nightclub and the toastmasters.” Helmut Thielicke

“The trouble with many men is that they have got just enough religion to make them miserable. If there is not joy in reli­gion, you have got a leak in your religion.” —William A. (Billy) Sunday

“The true object of all human life is play.” G. K. Chesterton

“The worst sin – perhaps the only sin – passion can commit, is to be joyless.” Dorothy Leigh Sayers

“To bring joy to a single heart is better than to build many shrines for worship.” Abu Sa’id Ibn Abi Khayr, in M. Smith, Readings from the Mystics of Islam

“What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner.” Colette

“You shall have joy, or you shall have power, said God; you shall not have both.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journal, October 1842

CONCLUSION: AM I A JOYFUL PERSON?

This is a very easy, short and hopefully helpful and joyful homily.

Today’s readings challenge us to ask ourselves, “Am I a joyful person?”

Today’s homily presented 10 questions and 20 quotations on the question of joy. Bottom line: “Am I a joyful person?”

Today’s Sunday is part of the season called Advent – which means preparing for the coming of Christ into our hearts in a new way. Some day this week – some moment or moments before Christmas – find yourself in a quiet place and listen to your soul. Can you hear joy being sung in your heart? Can you hear Christmas carols in your ear and your memory, especially, “Joy to the World, the Lord Has Come!”

If you hear in your ear an inner echo called, "Joy", if you feel joy in your face, if you sense joy in your life, rejoice, because you're hearing the echo of God within! Your answer to the question, “Am I a joyful person?” is yes.

Christmas can be everyday – every day the Christian senses that Christ is within one’s heart – one’s stable – even if one thinks their heart is unstable, even if it has on the floor of their soul – that stuff that stinks up stables. Smile that’s where Christ is born. Joy to the world. Amen.