Thursday, December 18, 2008

Joy is coming!

Your immortal crown awaits you, and the best of Fathers waits there to reward your duty and love. You may indeed sow here in tears, but you may be sure there to reap in joy.-----St. Elizabeth Ann Seton ( first American born person to be canonozed, she died in 1821)
 
Joy is what we all hope for. This is what Advent is all about. The world is waiting for Joy. But why was Joy born in a cave and laid in a feeding trough for the lesser animals? Why does Joy come to us only through the cross?  This joy we hope for is still to come. We do not have it yet. We are still in an Advent to see His face. We hope for the eternal joy of His Presence without interruption. Here on this earth we will be tempted to settle for lesser joys, good things that make us happy, but they pale in comparison to what awaits those who "persevere to the end.", to quote Jesus. But some days seem too dang hard for us. We cry out to Jesus for mercy and the relentless frustrations mount. The struggle deepens instead of getting easier. Nothing makes sense, all seems lost. So what do we do? We pray and we wait. We ask for wisdom and faith. We ask for grace to have faith. We will it as best we can and then we wait for Him to come. What else can we do? We could become angry and bitter, but this is the fruit of the devil. Jesus could have become angry and bitter in the Garden of Gethsemane, but He said, "Not My will, but Thine." Once again, this is not easy, this narrow road, but joy is coming!
 
wkm
 
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

No comments: