Choose Joy Like Mary
The third week of Advent invites us to cultivate joy. Perhaps this stems from the biblical admonition to rejoice; in the Epistle to the Philippians, for instance, Paul mentions the idea of joy at least 16 times in just four chapters.
Yet the notion of rejoicing in times like these might seem impossible, if not morally wrong. War continues to rage in Gaza and the West Bank as the Israeli military bombs historic churches and shoots hostages waving white flags. A U.S. presidential candidate says he’d like to be a dictator on day one. Discriminatory legislation targets queer and trans folks around the world from the United States to Uganda and the United Kingdom. How can we celebrate joyfully when so many are grieving the ends of relationships, the deaths of loved ones, and the loss of opportunities and dreams?
The experience of joy doesn’t ignore or invalidate suffering, our own or others’ around the world. Rather, choosing joy as peacemakers enables us to stand in solidarity with others and resist the death-dealing powers of empire and domination.
As LeeAnn McKenna reminds us, Mother Mary lived in extremely trying times. Even under the false peace of Roman military occupation, she rejoiced with her cousin and both expectant women’s children in the womb. She embodies Edgar Palacios’ “committed hope” by joyously singing a prophetic hymn celebrating the imminent overthrow of earthly empires (Luke 1:39–55). Mary’s joy nurtured her participation in God’s plan of resistance to and liberation from exploitative powers and principalities.
Our practice of joy sustains us, like Mary, through the ministry of peacemaking. The poet Mary Oliver observes parts of our modern context that can paralyze us into inaction:
There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be.
We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, she writes, “life has some possibility left.” Together we can share life, feed one another materially and spiritually. We can bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and set free the oppressed (Isa 61:1–2; Luke 4:18). Without joy, we languish in despair and nothing changes.
So, may we always follow the poet’s advice:
If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate.
Give in to it.
[...]
Don’t be afraid of its plenty.
Joy is not made to be a crumb.
