Joy Archives - Amazing Catechists

The Joy of Expectant Waiting

There are so many beautiful words to describe active waiting: expectancy, joy, pregnancy, anticipation. It’s what we tend to experience during the Advent season. Active waiting (also called Advent or expectant waiting) evokes incredible hope in us, because we are on the cusp of watching how God’s plan unfolds for a specific promise.

A few points pertaining to this type of waiting will guide us as we move through our own journey. Think of the popular song, “I Wonder As I Wander” for this type of expectancy. A seed has been planted. Its in the germination stage right now, and what is required of you is to be vigilant and patience until the time of flourishing – which God determines – arrives.

We Wait In Community

Let’s look to a beautiful example of expectant waiting – the Visitation. What did the Blessed Mother do as soon as she heard the news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and after she accepted the invitation to bear the Son of God? She went in haste to share this joy with her cousin! They were both pregnant with a promise, so they gathered together in friendship, in community, to allow the seed of human life to grow within them.

When we wait in joyful anticipation, we remember that ‘nothing is impossible for God.’ (Waiting with Purpose, p. 47)

Have Confidence in God’s Promise

One of my favorite saints-to-be is Blessed Solanus Casey. He is well known for his famous quip, “Thank God ahead of time.” What does this mean for us when we are waiting – often with a certain amount of restlessness or tension – for new birth, new life, or a new phase of life to begin? We focus on who God is and all He has already accomplished in our lives. It’s important to thank God for all that He has done, is doing, and will do for us. That’s what expectant faith is – it’s faith that is confident in God.

We know He will act, and we pray accordingly – with expectation of answered prayer.

Expect to Move from Community to Contemplation

God often prepares us for a particular mission in cycles and seasons. We know this from our waiting experiences that somehow give way to seasons of activity and then back to dormancy. If expectant faith relies upon our lives in relationship, then we know we are being formed by those to whom we are closest – family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, spouses, children.

The people who live with us see us at our best and worst. They might draw out specific flaws or weaknesses – tendencies toward impatience, for example. As we enter into prayer each day, God reflects this reality to us so that we might allow Him to further chisel away the imperfections that deter us from spiritually advancing.

Then, one day, or perhaps gradually, we will move from a stage of activity to the desert. Community tends to precede contemplation, in that God draws us – whether quite literally (as in the case of an anchoress or hermit) or interiorly – into a more reflective state of solitude. It is during our time in the desert when God guides us more directly, though we cannot see or feel much of anything.

We wait – always in joyful hope – whether in community or contemplation.

This post was adapted from Chapter 3 in my book, Waiting with Purpose: Persevering When God Says “Not Yet.”

How Laughter Can Help When You’re Grieving

By Jeannie Ewing

Laughter might be the last thing on your mind when you’ve lost a loved one, a job, a home, or are experiencing financial difficulty. Even if you’re a good-natured person inherently, it’s hard to see beyond the struggle when you’re in the midst of it.

Despite this reality, engaging in a hearty belly laugh now and then is surprisingly very healing, both physiologically and emotionally. Laughter accesses the limbic system, the part of our brains that houses emotional processing and responses. When you laugh so hard you cry, you’re actually reaping double benefits, too: Research shows evidence that tears shed during times of extreme stress have a different chemical makeup than those shed when you’re temporarily sad.

Here are some ways laughter can help you when you’re grieving:

Find a funny friend and suggest a night out. If you can’t get out, invite him/her over. Let loose and allow yourself to double over with puns, slapstick, dry, or whatever type of humor triggers your funny bone.
Watch your favorite comedy. Or try a stand-up comedian. Ben and I really love the “clean comics” Brian Regan and Jim Gaffigan. They never fail to make us wheeze with laughter.
Do something fun. “Fun” is almost always the last thing on everyone’s list when they are grieving. Even if you can’t imagine going out, do it anyway. Your mind, body, and soul need a break.
Read a funny book. If you don’t know of any, ask around.
Look for humorous memes online. There are plenty. All you have to do is Google!

Though it might seem frivolous or trite, it’s important to take time out to relax, regroup, and find something refreshing to help you refocus on the joys in life. Even if you burst into guffaws at the oddest moments or for the strangest reasons, go with it. I can’t explain the times when Ben and I have shared a good belly laugh over something like an inside joke or a ridiculous story or comment. There’s something very healing and cathartic that occurs.

When you laugh, you clear your mind. Your body’s tension will loosen, and you will feel the visceral response of stress leaving your body, and you will feel stronger and more capable of tackling all the burdens you are facing.

Paraphrased from my book, From Grief to Grace: The Journey from Tragedy to Triumph.

Advent JOY Lesson

By Deanna Bartalini

The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete means joy. I planned an Advent gathering for the families of our parish for Gaudete Sunday. Here is the outline and activities:

Opening Prayer: Use the 3rd Sunday of Advent prayers for lighting an Advent wreath. Include a song if you’d like.

Short Teaching: Explain the purpose of the Advent wreath and the colors and why we use the pink candle today for joy. I also include an explanation of JOY as an acronym for Jesus, Others, You. You can read more about that here.

Craft: A set of 3 votive candles wrapped in colored paper with the letters “J” “O” “Y” on each to spell out JOY. You can use letter stickers or handwrite them. (I would do one set per family.)

Imaginative Prayer: Read Luke 2:1-20 slowly, asking everyone to close their eyes and visualize what is being read. Ask the group what they noticed, how they felt.

Closing: A birthday cake for Jesus. You’ll need to bake the cake ahead of time and then add the other elements when you are with the group. Here is an outline for the cake:

1. Make it round — like the never-ending circle of His love for all of us.
2. Make it chocolate — like the darkness our sins brings to us and others.
3. Make it covered with white frosting — like His purity covering our weakness.
4. Top it with a yellow star and put an angel —bearer of the first glad tidings.
5. Put twelve red candles on top — like the twelve months of the year that Christ is our light; red for the blood He willingly shed for us.
6. Encircle this loving cake with evergreens — the symbol of everlasting life.
I hope you can use this lesson or some parts of it to bring some Advent JOY into the season!

Rediscovering Sunday as the Day of Joy

By Pat Gohn

Sometimes, the joy busters of life get the better of me. But not lately.When I delve into the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I really get a sense of the joie de vivre of Catholic life. Something that has had a real and practical application for my life is finding the joy of Sundays. After all, Sunday was the day that Jesus was raised from the death… and in so many ways, a thoughtful observance of Sunday can breathe life back into the other days of the week for me.

Tucked in the middle of a longer summary about Sundays, I came across this tiny, yet powerful phrase: the day of joy. I was immediately struck by how often I have revered Sunday as an obligation and a day of rest, but have not always consciously entered into it as a day of joy, save for major feast days. As it turns out, that is just one aspect of a bigger idea that describes Christian joy as proper to Sundays.

Let’s look at the full text of CCC 1193:

Sunday, the “Lord’s Day,” is the principal day for the celebration of the Eucharist because it is the day of the Resurrection. It is the pre-eminent day of the liturgical assembly, the day of the Christian family, and the day of joy and rest from work. [Emphasis mine.]

Let’s break that down by looking at how joy might be better nurtured in our Sundays.

There are four elements that characterize the celebration of the Lord’s day: the celebration of Mass, the day of Christian family, the day of joy, and rest from work.

For Catholics, the first element of attending Mass on Sundays is obvious. It’s not only a Precept of the Church (see CCC 2041) but it also follows the Third Commandment to “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Ex. 20:8.)

Sunday Eucharist is the great tradition handed down to us from the Apostles. There we gather for the handing on of the Word of God and for the sharing in Holy Communion. It is there that “the whole community of the faithful encounters the risen Lord who invites them to his banquet.” (CCC 1166).

We go to meet the Lord! To prepare to attend Mass on Sunday with the appropriate joy, it helps me to visualize my personal meeting with Jesus. Recall the resurrection accounts of Mary Magdalene and the Apostles upon meeting the Risen Jesus for the first time since Good Friday. What joy must have flooded their souls! The One Whom they longed for is now right in their midst!

How might I prepare to meet Christ in the Eucharist? Like I would meet my beloved one, by preparing with loving anticipation. When my thoughts long for this meeting, when I finally encounter “Him” – who invites me to “his banquet” – well, that’s deep, sweet, joy!

The second element of Sunday is the experience of Christian family. St. John Chrysostom (4^th century bishop and Doctor of Church) had this to say about Mass attendance:

You cannot pray at home as at church, where there is a great multitude, where exclamations are cried out to God as from one great heart, and where there is something more: the union of minds, the accord of souls, the bond of charity, the prayers of the priests.

Not only is Sunday Mass a precious meeting with the Lord, it is “something more”: a coming together in unity with the other members of our local church. This aids our understanding of “the day of the Christian family”. It not only refers to our nuclear families, but it also extends to the family of God into which we are baptized. We have a responsibility to them as well. Our participation in Sunday worship is “a testimony of belonging and of being faithful to Christ and to his Church.” (CCC 2182).

In an age when the idea of “Christian family” is under attack, Sundays are an opportunity to renew our commitment to that ideal. In our own homes, we can work toward not only worshipping together, but also praying together at times outside of Mass, and learning and sharing the faith together. The old adage that “the family that prays together stays together” is of great value.

Yet, as mentioned, we are also to embrace the family of God at large beyond our household. We cannot live the Christian life in a vacuum, cocooning away from the larger Body of Christ. We must maintain contact and connection… “a testimony of belonging.” Making friendly connections and getting involved in parish life makes what we do on Sundays more fruitful.

This brings us to the third element of Sunday as a day of joy. To further explore this idea, a search of the Catechism brings us to CCC 2185:

On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body. Family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse from the obligation of Sunday rest. The faithful should see to it that legitimate excuses do not lead to habits prejudicial to religion, family life, and health. [Emphasis mine.]

Our joy is tied up in worship and in merciful service and in relaxation! We’ve already covered the idea of worship at Mass, and we’ll take up the question of relaxation next. But take note: here we see Sunday recommended for works of mercy. Now, when was the last time you heard that? (Need a refresher on the spiritual and corporal works of mercy? See CCC 2447.)

For many Christians, works of mercy may already be incorporated into weekly activities. But, for those with demanding familial and professional schedules, Sundays seems to be held out as a day to find time for such joy. I wonder what our world would be like if more of us, myself included, intentionally performed a work of mercy each Sunday, or a few Sundays a month?

The fourth element is the day of rest… harkening from the model of God who entered into rest after six days of Creation. (Gen. 2:2.)

In CCC 2184 and 2194, we read that the institution of Sunday rest helps all “to be allowed sufficient rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social, and religious lives.”

What a gift rest is! What joy we have when we truly enter it in meaningful ways!

Unfortunately, despite all the so-called conveniences and advances of modern society, there exists acute pressure to make Sunday just another day of the week to work, shop, exercise, pay bills, etc., and, in general, to catch up!

But when we follow the Lord’s ways, we find joy. It takes deliberate action to try to live this way. Sunday observances become a necessary discipline of disciples of Jesus. Such discipline brings joy.

As we approach this Sunday, may we enjoy a day of grace and rest, and may we joyfully sing with the psalmist:

“This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps. 118: 24.)

The article was adapted for Amazing Catechists from a previous series that the author created and featured on CatholicExchange.com.