“If the Lord is our joy, our joy cannot be taken away. It cannot be lost…Joy had come to the world, and it had come to stay.” – Dr. Scott Hahn
As I turned the pages of Dr. Scott Hahn’s “Joy to the World” the light of understanding that God gave each of us sparked, and soon I was experiencing the instilling gifts of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who has prayed for such gifts knows how joyful it can be when they appear…Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge – who knew this book of inspiring meditations would give such a comprehensive glimpse into the story of Christ’s birth.
Among Dr. Hahn’s scholarly reads, I was most taken with “Joy to the World,” because his usual preciseness is mingled with such childlike wonder as he takes us through this Holy season with Sacred Scripture in one hand and the Church’s life giving Tradition in the other. Already in the first chapter I was heartened when he “sees” the radiance of the teenaged Virgin Mary on his young daughter’s face during his family’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
In the end, we come to understand why he believes this wonder is the key to the New Evangelization, “Christmas sets us apart. Christmas calls us to share in divine love and then to share that love with an unbelieving world…People find it irresistible and irrefutable.”
So this year as we light the first candle on our Advent wreaths, we can do it with a deeper understanding of the events surrounding the reason for this miraculous season of God’s saving love. The Truth is here, but like the Magi, we must seek it. The Truth is Christ, and like the star, “Joy to the World” helps us find Him.
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Read more reviews at Dr. Hahn’s “Joy to the World” Blog Tour with Image Books, going on now through December 11!
