Finding Joy Amid Pain

The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday. I find the Gospel reading of the day particularly fitting, but especially the second half. Jesus asks His disciples who they went into the desert to see, namely, the messenger that He sent ahead of Himself, to prepare the way for His coming. I believe that the call of John the Baptist is also the call of all Christians, especially in this time when the world is so focused on creating division and sadness. There is a noticeable darkness spreading in the world. People are hurting and that hurt makes them sad, and the sadness makes them lonely and the cycle continues. 

You may have heard the term “trauma dumping”, that is, sharing every negative thing that has happened in your life in hopes that someone will relate to you and help fix the hurt. But this has had an adverse effect where people try to ‘one up’ each other's trauma experiences, which ultimately widens the void of loneliness when everyone realizes that no one will truly understand their personal hurt. I believe that this is a major contributor to the darkness that seems to loom over the world these days. John the Baptist undoubtedly had difficulties in life: he lived uncomfortably, he experienced loneliness in the desert, away from anything easy, yet people flocked to him. This leads me to believe that although his life remained difficult, he never sought to preach to people about his hardship, instead he had the joy of God and was excited to share His coming with everyone who listened. 

I don’t want to discredit anyone who may have experienced particularly difficult things in life; those wounds are real and necessary in our fallen states, and sometimes the hurt never goes away. However, we can turn to the Lord for strength - the joy of the Lord is our strength. I’m the first to admit that sometimes wallowing in and holding on to our pain like a vice grip seems like the only safe thing to do when you’re in the midst of it. But when we turn to Him, place our pain into his pierced hands and let Him strengthen us, we cannot help but rejoice and share the joy of His word with everyone who listens. 

This is how we can dispel the darkness that is taking over our world. Our wounds are what make us human, but through His strength, Christ heals, and the joy that follows helps us grow in holiness. 

By Lily Hooper