MEDITATION TIPS (Episode 282)
Third Sunday of Advent
December 14, 2025

“Rejoice, O wilderness and desert! Rejoice and blossom, O desert!” (Isaiah 35:1)

　Each year, the Third Sunday of Advent is called the “Sunday of Joy,” celebrating the approaching joy of the Lord’s birth in the liturgy of this day. When we see the nativity scene decorated, we realize that it is not only Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the three wise men who rejoice at the Savior’s birth, but also the angels who sing joyfully above the manger. Traditionally, European artists have depicted angels as young youths, or even as children. Angels are always smiling like children, playful, free, and enjoying life. Angels know no tears, no anguish, no anger, no sorrow. They give no sense of death; only warmth emanates from them. Artists, and the Church, have entrusted eternal youth and joy to these angels.

　Joy can also be called warmth. We say someone has a warm heart. Being with them, you feel that warmth, and your own heart feels warmed too. Conversely, we may say that someone is cold. Being with such a person makes your own heart feel frozen. Similarly, a chapel where people always pray feels filled with soul and a certain warmth. Conversely, a chapel where no one usually prays has a kind of lonely chill about it.

　For the saints of the Church, it has always been considered that brightness, joy, and humor are essential spiritual qualities, not strictness or severity. Brightness is not about innate personality. It arises from deep trust, from the certainty that one is accepted as one is, and that ultimately, God will make all things work for good. Cultivating this requires patience.

　James instructs, “The farmer waits patiently for the precious fruit of the earth, until it receives the early and late rains” (James 5:7). Whether in study, work, or ministry, it is human nature to want immediate results. Yet what comes quickly also fades quickly. If you pull out the roots every day to check if the plant is growing, nothing will ever grow. So what are we waiting for? We are waiting for something within us to slowly mature and grow. That something is the cheerfulness, joy, warmth, and humor the church has always cherished.

　Joy and warmth bring smiles. People don’t laugh because they’re happy; they become happy because they laugh. Conversely, people don’t cry because they’re sad; they become sad because they cry. Japan has the proverb, “Laughter brings fortune to the house.” It means that happiness will surely come to a home where laughter never ceases. That is, the belief that laughter’s power wards off evil and brings people happiness. Therefore, the Japanese have long held the spirit of “overcoming hardship with a smile,” believing that the harder times are, the more one should laugh to escape the difficulty quickly. Furthermore, the Japanese have traditionally used the word “o-hiraki” (“closing”; lit. “opening”) rather than words implying ending or cessation, valuing the idea of opening toward the future. Thus, today’s meditation hint also draws to a close (“o-hiraki”) here, as we await the Lord’s Nativity.

 　　　　　(Contributed by Father Yutaka Akabae)