Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

May I offer a challenge as we begin this season of Advent? Consider these passages from scripture focusing on the word “rejoice.”

Colossians 1:24 – Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking
in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church …
Romans 5:3–4 – Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces
endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope …
Romans 12:12 – Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Philippians 3:1a – Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. …
Philippians 4:4 – Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Interestingly, all these are from letters written by the apostle Paul and, if you know anything about his life, he endured a fair amount of hardship. Further, in the last three verses, the verb rejoice is in the present, active tense which further emphasizes the word “always.”

In other words, St. Paul thinks it is possible for us to rejoice all the time! That sounds odd to our modern ears.

Today we’ll begin a 4-week homily series entitled “Rejoice!” It isn’t hard to understand how this word fits into our modern Christmas. It may be a bit more challenging to see how we can rejoice at other times of the year and especially in seasons of trial.

Join Fr. Anthony and I on an Advent journey leading us not only to the joys of Christmas morning, but also to a closer walk with our Lord.

A bit more food for thought…
“This Christmas season finds us a rather bewildered human race. We have neither peace within nor peace without. Everywhere paralyzing fears harrow people by day and haunt them by night. Our world is sick with war; everywhere we turn we see its ominous possibilities. And yet, my friends, the Christmas hope for peace and goodwill toward all men can no longer be dismissed as a kind of pious dream of some utopian. If we don’t have goodwill toward men in this world, we will destroy ourselves by the misuse of our own instruments and our own power.”— Martin Luther King, Jr., “A Christmas Sermon on Peace”