“Rejoice in the Lord always.
 I shall say it again:  rejoice!
 Your kindness should be known to all.
 The Lord is near.” (Is 61:1)

These words of Isaiah invite us to embrace a fresh perspective on living each day. Advent keeps reminding us joy is a simple gift we can offer each other. Amidst the disappointments, sorrows, and tribulations we and others experience, joy is a liberating experience. 

Advent offers us opportunities to take a step back to open our minds and hearts, to radiate the liberating experience of wonder, awe, and joy.

We frequently read in the Scriptures the many times Jesus brought joy in the simplest ways into people’s lives.  Joy is a freeing experience.

During Advent I attended several Christmas concerts and ballets. Through those events I discovered myself embraced by a kind of joyful harmony emanating from the hundreds of people gathered in one common space.  The experience of sight and sound seemed to bond us together in moments of beauty, wonder, and profound joy.  

Pope Francis reminds us in his Apostolic Exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel”, we are called to both be joyful and radiate joy to others. 

During these final Advent days, we may take time to contemplate the opportunity to embrace a new perspective for moving toward a new year.  These days offer us the possibility of thinking of more than one possibility in responding to a given idea, situation, or challenge we are facing in life today. 

“Rejoice in the Lord always…” invites us to bridge joy and hope adding realistic new optimism into our lives.  How we use our imagination to see new ways to solve problems, do tasks, think new thoughts, understand new meanings, find a new use for something, or, make something new.  This is possible by offering each other the simple gift of joy!