I believe the joy that is at the heart of the Franciscan alleluia proceeds from this inner realization, which descends upon us at ever deeper levels as we walk our faith journey. This deepening is the only real goal of Christian contemplation, and is the heart of the Perennial Tradition of wisdom. This is how Francis and Clare, and all contemplatives, “know” things: “The soul itself is an image of God, to which God is so present that the soul can actually grasp God, and ‘is capable of possessing God and of being a partaker in God” (Saint Bonaventure). With that we can move forward. In fact, we can move far and wide and confidently forward.
“Why are you weeping?” the angels ask her as she leans into the tomb. Mary Magdalene is not ashamed of her emotion; she is not hesitant in her answer. She is missing her Lord. No, she does not fully grasp the great theological mysteries of the passion and the resurrection that she is about to encounter. She cannot explain that she leans in to look because everything about Jesus indicated there was something greater coming on the other side of his hideous death. All she knows is that she is there because she is looking for her Lord. And that is enough to lead her straight to the Resurrected One. Whatever has brought you to the tomb weeping, know that you are made for resurrection joy. Stay, lean in, and look for the Lord.
Before you know it, he will be there beside you in all his glory. And he will fill you with a joy that bubbles over and overflows and sends you out as an apostle of the Good News. And when you see him? Oh, when he calls your name and you recognize his voice? You will be transformed! You, friend, will become a new creation, one who has drawn near to Christ in sickness and in suffering, in sin and shame, and been made new. You will become one who now knows that the end of the story is that he defeats it all and comes back to offer us a life of hope. And then he sends us to offer that hope to a world so desperately in need of it. He is calling your name. Do you recognize his voice? Turn, friend, and in his face, be reminded of who it is he says that you are.
You would not be worth more if you looked different than you do today. You would not be a better person. You would not be smarter or more important. You are already necessary, already vital, already full of contributions to the world, already a voice the rest of us need to hear. And if someone else cannot see that, it is their problem, not yours. You are already dearly beloved by God in the very body you are in today. You are already enough.
Today, Fr. Mike gives us a word of encouragement to find joy even in the midst of suffering and to avoid falling into despair or resentment as we walk toward eternity.
Often we hear the phrase “Christmas is for children” and while it may seem like a cliché, it really is true. Children have an ability to abandon themselves to the joy, the anticipation, the expectations of this marvelous holiday that we lose when we become adults with responsibilities and budgets and hard economic realities. They enter into preparations with a glee that knows nothing of the perfect Pinterest project or decorations inspired by glossy magazines. Watching children create worlds out of their imaginations and doing our best to take part in their visions shows a respect for God’s movement within them and reminds us of our own more carefree days. There’s no doubt that the pope follows the one who encouraged us to become like little children: dependent, needy, but open to the grace and protection and providence of God.
Find ways to include children in your Christmas preparations as well as the celebration of the day itself. Let them decorate their rooms themselves. Encourage them to help with decorating cookies, even if they use half a bottle of colored sugar on one cookie in the beginning. Overlook the five ornaments on one branch of the tree because that’s where the four-year-old could reach. Take delight in the Fisher-Price donkey on the roof of the stable where an adult would put the star. Christmas reminds us that there’s more to life than the workaday adult world.
