Hey there,
Last Sunday we celebrated Gaudete Sunday … the day during our Advent preparations to rejoice in the coming joy of our Lord’s birth.
But despite all the joy of this time of year, for some it’s quite the opposite.
We get down for many reasons.
Loved ones who are no longer with us, unemployment, illness, rift with a family member.
Or maybe it’s because of all the stress of the season … shopping, cooking, decorating, and everything else.
This week’s Genuflect is for anyone who needs a spirit boost. We look at the God-given gift of joy, how to find joy despite difficulties, ways to overcome sadness, and how to look at the questions we ask of God.
If you know someone who’s experiencing a difficult time, please share Genuflect with him. So we all can fully experience the true joy of the coming of our Lord at Christmas … and every day.
Keep Believing-
Katy Barrilleaux
Editor, Genuflect
Resources
Why Joy Is a Gift For Advent, Not Just Christmas
Joy is a gift that we receive from God through the Holy Spirit. But just because joy is a gift that we receive does NOT mean that our role is purely passive. Joy is a gift we can seek out, and a gift that we can dispose ourselves to receive more readily and more consciously. Here are three tips to discovering joy during advent as well as Christmas.
Pope Francis: Rejoice! God Hears Your Prayers
God’s loving care for his children – listening to their cares, answering their prayers and petitions – is a cause for rejoicing, Pope Francis said in his Angelus address Sunday. “No worries, no fear, will ever take away the serenity that does not come from human things, from human consolations, no, the serenity that comes from God, from knowing that God lovingly guides our life, and always does.”
We Are Created for Joy
Claire Dwyer explains how by putting our trust in God, even in times of darkness and distress, we can still experience joy.
How to Foster True Christian Joy
Pope Benedict XVI distinguishes between worldly joy and the joy that endures.
Finding Joy When You’re Feeling Down
Have you ever felt so sad that you thought you may never recover from it? Though it may not always be present to us, sadness is an inevitable part of human life. The human heart is made for joy, but sadness often steals this joy from us. Here are some ways to find joy when you’re sad.
How to Lose Sadness and Find Happiness
Sadness is actually a very healthy emotional response to events that happen to us, and we all will likely experience sadness of some sort in life. Here are tips to experience the sadness of life and still live a happy life.
Why Am I so Unhappy? 50 Little Things That Secretly Make You Unhappy
While depression, and other psychological diseases, are certainly a clinical illness and should not be minimized, there are also factors that contribute to feeling down that you can influence. Here are 50 reasons you may be unhappy, and suggestions on how to open the mental blinds to let the sunshine back in.
3 Healing Effects of Music on Your Body
The power of music was well known even before science confirmed what we already knew: music heals us. Here are the three positive effects music has on a body.
“God, Why?” Questions
Why, God? – depends on who’s asking. Atheists, agnostics, and believers ask the “God, why?” question in different ways. Here’s how believers can look at the Why God? question.
How I Learned to Love My Sister’s Murderer
By David A. Smither … I never thought I would be telling this story publicly — let alone living it. I pray that it may speak to your heart on this Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of Rejoicing.
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