Bishops' Schedules: Bishop Robert C. Morlino Sunday, December 24, 2006 11:00 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Stational Mass, St. Patrick Church, Madison Monday, December 25, 2006 12:00 midnight -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Christmas Midnight Mass, St. Patrick Church, Madison Wednesday, December 27, 2006 5:30 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, attend Seminarians/Serra Christmas Gathering, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Bishop William H. Bullock Sunday, December 24, 2006 8:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Anticipated Mass of Christmas, St. John the Baptist Church, Jefferson Bishop George O. Wirz Wednesday, December 27, 2006 5:30 p.m. -- Concelebrate Mass with Bishop Morlino and seminarians, Serra Club, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison

Christmas: Birth of Christ opens our hearts to joy

		Under the Gospel Book + Bishop Robert C. Morlino

(en Español)

Dear Friends,

Last Sunday we celebrated the Third Sunday of Advent which is called Gaudete, that is Rejoice, Sunday. Even the texts of the previous Sunday's liturgy were replete with references to joy. In the opening prayer we asked the Lord to help us remove the obstacles in our lives to receiving Christ with joy, and at the responsorial psalm we sang "the Lord has done great things for us, we are filled with joy."

And of course, with St. John the Baptist, Our Blessed Mother is the central human figure for Advent and the angel saluted her with the greeting "Rejoice, you who are full of grace!" Joy is not accidental to our life as disciples of Jesus Christ. In fact joy is listed by St. Paul as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, second only to charity.

The angel's greeting to Mary, including the command to rejoice, was not in any way mitigated by the fact that she was to be with child as a virgin, with all of the suspicions that her situation would create. Her command from the angel to rejoice was not mitigated when she stood at the foot of the cross. Her command to rejoice reached its fulfillment when she was taken up body and soul into heaven, the first among the redeemed to enjoy the fully activated presence to her Son, with His Father and in the Holy Spirit.

We have received gift of durable joy

It seems to me that sometimes for us joy is very fragile, rather than durable like Mary's joy. Mary's joy was a special gift of the Trinity, a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Because of our Baptism and Confirmation we have received the gift of that durable joy. Difficult circumstances in life, such as violence, war and oppression, illness, disappointment, and failure can make this joy which we have received from the Holy Spirit to seem out of reach.

Young people especially are meant to be joyful, but so often they seek out their joy in what Pope John Paul the Great called the "artificial paradises" of alcohol, drugs, sex outside of marriage, and even violence.

But Mary the misunderstood virgin yet mother, and Mary at the foot of the cross, where she became our Mother of Sorrows, never found that fruit of the Holy Spirit, who had overshadowed her at the conception of Jesus Christ, out of reach even in the most trying circumstances. After all she had received the command from the angel to rejoice, and she had received the gift of joy from the Holy Spirit.

Charity and joy: two fruits of Holy Spirit

For many different reasons our Christian faith appears joyless at times, and some Christians certainly appear to be joyless individuals. Perhaps joy is listed as the second fruit of the Holy Spirit after charity, because these are the two gifts of the Spirit which most give us our credibility as followers of Christ and make our Christian faith contagious, so that others join us on our pilgrimage to the Heavenly Jerusalem. Despite all of the difficulties that we encounter on that pilgrimage, the two constants must always be charity and joy.

During these final days before Christmas let us examine our consciences about joy, praying that prayer from the Second Sunday of Advent, "Lord help us remove the obstacles in our lives to receiving Christ with joy."

Perhaps we look for joy in the wrong places. Perhaps we become discouraged when the difficulties of life seem to overpower the gift of joy which the Holy Spirit Himself has given us. Perhaps we sadden ourselves by failing in forbearance, that is withholding judgment and giving the benefit of the doubt to others in what they say or do. People who habitually place the worst possible interpretation on the words and actions of others cannot have joy, because they cannot pray, because they do not have peace.

Jesus Christ came into the world according to the flesh on that first Christmas Night when the whole world was at peace. Prayer, that coming of Jesus Christ into our hearts, can only happen in a peaceful environment. Souls who trouble themselves by consistently placing the worst possible interpretation on the words and actions of others cannot be at peace and therefore they cannot pray, and this becomes an obstacle in their life to receiving Christ with joy.

Christmas is a time for joy

Christmastime is a time above all for joy - "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near." That command is as real for us as it was for Mary and through Baptism and Confirmation we have all that we need to receive that gift. Let us beg the Lord to renew us this Christmas in a truly durable joy, with Mary and like Mary, that joy which the world can never give, and most importantly which the world can never take away!

Please be assured of my prayerful best wishes for you and your loved ones at Christmastime. May your Christmas Season be truly blessed in a way that will shed new light and joy on this New Year which we are about to begin. As I promise you my prayers for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, please know that I very much count on your own prayerful remembrance.

Thank you for reading this and God bless you. Christ is born! Glorify Him!