Today is a natural favorite in the Advent Season - today we lit the rose candle which represents “Joy.”  Our readings are full of joy, Isaiah says, “I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul;”  Mary says, “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” and Paul tells us to “Rejoice always.”

 

Joy is so attractive to us, right along with peace, we all want those two dispositions.  I say “disposition” because it’s more than a feeling, it’s a way of life that doesn’t pass or change with the shifting winds. While happiness comes from exterior things, joy is more interior.

 

How do we find joy and peace in this tumultuous world?  Well, if you notice in our Gospel, there is nothing specifically about joy or peace, it is all about identity, the identity of John the Baptist which many of the Jews were trying to figure out at that time.

 

So who was John the Baptist?  Well first it said he was “sent from God” and it said “He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.” John the Baptist was “sent from God” this is part of his identity, and his mission was “to testify to the light” - he knew that he wasn’t the light, he knew he wasn’t God. Identity v Mission. Identity must be defined first, that leads to mission.

 

What is our own identity?  Who we are is different from what we do.  I believe understanding our own identity and focusing on that more than our mission is crucial to our joy.  The reason is because in our lives, our mission changes, through many different seasons, but our identity really doesn’t change, at least not if we find our identity in God, if we put that 1st, not mission. Identity is interior, Mission is exterior; we have joy interiorly, happiness is exterior, see that?  

 

Conveniently, our seven sacraments help us to understand our identity in Christ.  When Jesus Christ came to earth, He left us a straight and narrow road to the Kingdom, and that road is the Church, guided by the sacraments, and we can look at those to understand our true identity.

 

1. The first sacrament is Baptism, it is foundational, people must be baptized before they can receive any other sacrament, and in the rite it talks about how in baptism, the child becomes an adopted son or daughter of God.  This must be our primary identity, so we are able to say, “I am a beloved child of God.”
2. Next we have Reconciliation, which after we go to confession, we are able to regain our original identity, how God created us and sees us washed and forgiven by the blood of His son, we can honestly say: “I am pure and undefiled in God’s eyes.”
3. After that we have Holy Communion.  The Eucharist is God’s true presence among us, it is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise of “behold, I am with you always.” (Matthew 28:20)  So our identity with that sacrament is simply: “God is with me always.”
4. Next we have Confirmation which gives us a full outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God gives us what we need in order to carry out our mission.  The Holy Spirit is the gift God wants to give us. (Luke 11:13) In that sacrament our identity becomes: “I am anointed with God’s Power.”
5. The next sacrament most people receive is Matrimony, but even if you aren’t married like me, you can still find your identity in it because the sacrament really prefigures our union to God in heaven, so our identity there is: “God is always faithful to me.”
6. Some people that don’t get married receive the sacrament of Holy Orders, like me, but that is relatively few, right?  Still, through participation in the Catholic Church, having confidence in God, our identity is: “I have my Father’s Authority.”
7. Finally, often the last sacrament someone receives in their life is Anointing of the Sick, and in this sacrament we realize our identity as even deeper than what we see here, knowing: “I have the promise of eternal life with God.”

 

I believe that if we were to truly lean into these statements of our identity we would have joy and peace in our lives despite everything in the world, despite how our mission is going.  In fact, I suggest repeating these as mantras everyday to help us live in that identity. Sometimes we have to Self-Affirm because we aren’t affirmed by the world, in fact it’s often the opposite.

 

When I think of joy, I often think of my nieces and nephews, or little children in general.  They aren’t concerned about a mission, they simply trust in their parents' love for them, they live in their presence, they believe in their parents power to protect them, they aren’t worried about death. Plus children are humble & lowly, much like Mary, unlike so many adults who are proud of their mission, more proud of what they do for a job than who they are in the eyes of God.

 

Hopefully you can see the correlations there. Our identity does not come from how we are doing in our mission, that is usually from pride and un-Godly self-reliance. When we focus first on God and find our identity in Christ, it is then that we will find peace and joy and can truly live like Paul encourages us to, rejoicing always, saying like Mary, “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” 

Today is a natural favorite in the Advent Season - today we lit the rose candle which represents “Joy.”  Our readings are full of joy, Isaiah says, “I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul;”  Mary says, “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” and Paul tells us to “Rejoice always.”

 

Joy is so attractive to us, right along with peace, we all want those two dispositions.  I say “disposition” because it’s more than a feeling, it’s a way of life that doesn’t pass or change with the shifting winds. While happiness comes from exterior things, joy is more interior.

 

How do we find joy and peace in this tumultuous world?  Well, if you notice in our Gospel, there is nothing specifically about joy or peace, it is all about identity, the identity of John the Baptist which many of the Jews were trying to figure out at that time.

 

So who was John the Baptist?  Well first it said he was “sent from God” and it said “He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.” John the Baptist was “sent from God” this is part of his identity, and his mission was “to testify to the light” - he knew that he wasn’t the light, he knew he wasn’t God. Identity v Mission. Identity must be defined first, that leads to mission.

 

What is our own identity?  Who we are is different from what we do.  I believe understanding our own identity and focusing on that more than our mission is crucial to our joy.  The reason is because in our lives, our mission changes, through many different seasons, but our identity really doesn’t change, at least not if we find our identity in God, if we put that 1st, not mission. Identity is interior, Mission is exterior; we have joy interiorly, happiness is exterior, see that?  

 

Conveniently, our seven sacraments help us to understand our identity in Christ.  When Jesus Christ came to earth, He left us a straight and narrow road to the Kingdom, and that road is the Church, guided by the sacraments, and we can look at those to understand our true identity.

 

1. The first sacrament is Baptism, it is foundational, people must be baptized before they can receive any other sacrament, and in the rite it talks about how in baptism, the child becomes an adopted son or daughter of God.  This must be our primary identity, so we are able to say, “I am a beloved child of God.”
2. Next we have Reconciliation, which after we go to confession, we are able to regain our original identity, how God created us and sees us washed and forgiven by the blood of His son, we can honestly say: “I am pure and undefiled in God’s eyes.”
3. After that we have Holy Communion.  The Eucharist is God’s true presence among us, it is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise of “behold, I am with you always.” (Matthew 28:20)  So our identity with that sacrament is simply: “God is with me always.”
4. Next we have Confirmation which gives us a full outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God gives us what we need in order to carry out our mission.  The Holy Spirit is the gift God wants to give us. (Luke 11:13) In that sacrament our identity becomes: “I am anointed with God’s Power.”
5. The next sacrament most people receive is Matrimony, but even if you aren’t married like me, you can still find your identity in it because the sacrament really prefigures our union to God in heaven, so our identity there is: “God is always faithful to me.”
6. Some people that don’t get married receive the sacrament of Holy Orders, like me, but that is relatively few, right?  Still, through participation in the Catholic Church, having confidence in God, our identity is: “I have my Father’s Authority.”
7. Finally, often the last sacrament someone receives in their life is Anointing of the Sick, and in this sacrament we realize our identity as even deeper than what we see here, knowing: “I have the promise of eternal life with God.”

 

I believe that if we were to truly lean into these statements of our identity we would have joy and peace in our lives despite everything in the world, despite how our mission is going.  In fact, I suggest repeating these as mantras everyday to help us live in that identity. Sometimes we have to Self-Affirm because we aren’t affirmed by the world, in fact it’s often the opposite.

 

When I think of joy, I often think of my nieces and nephews, or little children in general.  They aren’t concerned about a mission, they simply trust in their parents' love for them, they live in their presence, they believe in their parents power to protect them, they aren’t worried about death. Plus children are humble & lowly, much like Mary, unlike so many adults who are proud of their mission, more proud of what they do for a job than who they are in the eyes of God.

 

Hopefully you can see the correlations there. Our identity does not come from how we are doing in our mission, that is usually from pride and un-Godly self-reliance. When we focus first on God and find our identity in Christ, it is then that we will find peace and joy and can truly live like Paul encourages us to, rejoicing always, saying like Mary, “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”