3rd Sunday of Advent | Joy Is a Byproduct | 12.13.2020 | Fr. Brian Larkin Our Lady Of Lourdes Podcast

3rd Sunday —Gaudete Sunday—Perpetual Happiness vs. True Joy, With All its Sorrow
Aldous Huxley—A Brave New World
"Our Ford himself did a great deal, to shift the emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness."
Do you want truth and beauty? Or, do you want comfort and happiness?
Mary has joy and sorrow because she loves.
"My spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
Josef Pieper once said, "Joy by its nature is something secondary, and subsidiary. If we look closely into the matter, it becomes apparent that Man does not want to plunge absolutely and unconditionally into the psychological state of rejoicing, but that he wants to have a reason for rejoicing."
Joy is a byproduct." He meant that humans want to be more than just "happy." We want to be happy because life is true and beautiful and good. God does want us to rejoice, but for the right things.
Check out Father Brian's latest podcast episode on Gregorian Rant! He talks about how people just want to "feel better." We are not made to be "comfortably numb." God created us for true joy, which is love.
St. Thomas Aquinas once said, "Out of love come both joy and sorrow. You have to choose."
"Brothers and sisters, if you love, you already have heaven."
Mary's joy is because she loves.
Mary chose joy with sorrow, because she loves. Ask yourself how Mary is the most joyful person who ever lived, despite the tremendous sorrow she experienced.
Even the sorrowful man who loves is happier than the non-lover. —Josef Piepers
Choose love—even with its sorrow—today.
"Jesus, may our love for You be the source of our joy."—Fr. Brian Larkin