It Is Time to Rejoice

A baby has arrived.

Salvation has arrived.

Arrived in poverty. While on a journey. In a cave not an inn.  The new parents weren't surrounded by their family and friends, and (unbeknownst to them) would soon be fleeing to Egypt to live unsettled for longer still.

Mary and Joseph knew that this baby was special, and that God had given them a mission as his parents. But they didn't know what that would look like or what that would mean for the rest of their lives. And honestly, the rest of their lives ended up being difficult and surprising. They had to hide in Egypt, lose Jesus to find him in the temple, watch friends and neighbors reject him when he started preaching and healing, and experience Joseph's death. Then Mary watched her son suffer and die and then rise from the dead, followed by Pentecost and the growth of Christianity.

It's probably not the life either Mary or Joseph imagined for themselves. But thank goodness they lived it well.

Enter you. Are you living the life you imagined you would be? Are you wondering about your future as you look to a new year?

I mean, you know God put you here on this earth for a reason, for your own mission. (You don't need an angel to appear to you to tell you that you have a mission. The fact that a loving God created you, and that you are alive right now is proof enough).  But maybe you're not quite sure what that mission is. You're pretty sure it involves marriage, but the right one hasn't showed yet.

And then you start wondering.

What will happen next week? What will happen next month? Will you still be working at your current job or will you be unemployed? Will your mom still be alive? Will you be dating someone? Engaged? Recently broken up? Will you have new medical bills to pay? Will you be alone forever?

I bet you and I could sit and worry about what the future will bring until the sheep come home. But what will that accomplish? Let's re-frame our wondering.

Instead of hopelessly trying to figure out how and when God will give us the life we want, let's look at the life we've been given. Let's wonder differently.

Wonder in awe at what graces God will give you in the coming year.

What new people will you get to come into contact with, or what old acquaintances will you be given the chance to reconnect with? How will you be moved to love and serve the people in your parish, your coworkers, your neighbors, your family?

What moments of happiness will you get to experience? Sure, there will be moments of suffering and loneliness and frustration. But there's no reason to live through those experiences twice by anticipating them right now. We can ask for the grace to make it through those as they come.

So for today, we rejoice. We rejoice that the Creator who made us took on our flesh and arrived here on earth—amidst the craziness of a census no less. We rejoice that Mary and Joseph raised their son as best they could despite any fear or doubt they might have felt. We rejoice that God made us and wants us and wills our existence at every second. We rejoice in joyful expectation at all the good things He will do for us in the coming year. And we rejoice gratefully for everything He has given us in the past.

Blessed be His Name. Rejoice, He has come!

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas season!