Greater Joy
“In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! (…) Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." (cf. Is 40:3-5)
The first, fundamental discovery on the path of spiritual growth is the realization that it is God who comes to us, that is not we, who are going to Him! Reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah gives us the right picture of the situation: we hear the news of the coming of the Lord, and therefore we have to prepare paths for Him in our hearts. This is the keynote of Advent, waiting for the Lord by "straightening the paths for our Lord". Waiting and learning to be simple are the basic efforts we should make in our lives. The Lord, on the other hand, comes when He wills Himself.
Usually, it seems to us that we who are going to God, we should "earn merit" in order to obtain His love. But how and where are we going to go? We often look for "certain" rules and criteria for assessing our closeness to God. However, it turns out, He is closer to us than we thought, but He is closer, differently than we would imagine. We do not have to go anywhere; we just have to open up to Him. This truth is best seen when we are lost and we convert. Then we experience God as a good shepherd who unravels the lamb from the bushes and takes it on his shoulders. This was the experience of the two brothers in the parable of the merciful father. The father himself went out to both of them with great love, which made them realize that they were closer to him than they had imagined.
The second experience that surprises us, when we decide to confess our sins and change our lives, God, like the good shepherd, enjoys more because He found one sheep than ninety-nine those who have not strayed (cf. Mt 18:13). This does not mean that to deserve God's love one must first sin and then convert. We do not deserve God's love, but we receive it as a gift, or in fact we discover that His love has embraced us since the time. “And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.” (Mt 18:13) This "Greater Joy" does not refer to any comparison to one another but is an expression that accentuates the solemn character of finding life. "Greater joy" is the heavenly celebration because of the new life of the person who converts. What was once no longer matters. Nobody comes back to it anymore. That is why our Advent waiting is full of joy, because we are already aware of His great forgiving love. Just as God grieved over suffering of the chosen people, so also our sufferings are not alien to Him.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george