Five Step Strategy for Joy

The Joyful Mysteries give us five strategies for – Joy: Docility to God’s will; Thinking of others; humility; gratitude and patience.

The First Mystery: The Annunciation

Docility means to be teachable; ready to accept the will of God no matter how it is delivered to us. Gabriel the Archangel came to Mary and presented to her the will of God: Mary, God the Father would like you to be the Mother of His Son: will you accept the will of God and take on this mission? Without hesitation Mary responds “Yes” I am the handmaid of the Lord; let what you have said be done to me.” No further questioning about the mystery of that process by which she, though remaining a virgin, is to become a Mother; all that she leaves to God. No anxious forebodings about the afflictions which such a Motherhood will bring with it; all that she leaves to God. No hesitations, no doubts, no demands for a sign; it is God’s will, therefore it is hers.

We all want to be happy and we are so unskillful in knowing what will be the best for us, so fickle in growing weary today of what delighted us yesterday. We can only be sure of getting what we really want if our will is God’s will.

The Second Mystery: The Visitation

Gabriel tells Mary that her cousin Elizabeth, in her old age, is already six months pregnant with a son. The first thought of Mary is not of her needs. Her first thought is to think of the needs of others, she anticipates what Elizabeth needs and immediately, with haste, goes to great lengths to care for those needs. I must confess I do not possess this quality. I think of my own needs and take care of them. My wife Sandy, on the other hand does possess this quality; she has the uncanny ability to anticipate the needs of others, put them first and acting, doing for them what they need. Do we have the virtue of anticipating and caring for the needs of others?

The Third Mystery: The Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem

The great Catholic philosopher Joseph Peiper writes: “All neurosis seems to have as a common symptom an egocentric anxiety, a tense and self-centered concern for security, an inability to let go.

One aspect of Pride is the obsession to control everything, to insist on our way or to be overly anxious about the events of the future. Look at Mary and Joseph, content with a stable as the birthplace and nursery of their first-born son. In their humility they recognized their limitations, they are not God, they cannot control all the factors of their circumstances. They have done the best they can to plan and the circumstances are out of their control; there is no room at the Inn. They accept their limitation peacefully. At the same time they know God is their Father and He will provide for them. So they are content with the stable. And because of their humility look what God sends: three kings to take care of them with gifts of Gold; frankincense and myrrh

The Fourth Mystery: The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

Joseph and Mary go to the Temple in Jerusalem to thank God for the gift of their son and they offer a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. All happiness is incomplete which has not learned to recognize the source from which it flows and to return thanks to God.

For what am I grateful? To whom I am grateful? Ultimately to God. How have I responded to His love for me? Happiness follows gratitude.

The Fifth Mystery: The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple

The most important thing in the world for Mary and Joseph, their son Jesus. Now he has been lost for three days and they must endure patiently without knowing how things will turn out, trusting that God will provide. 

Patience is a special form of courage whereby we endure hardships cheerfully.  Patience enables us to accept pain, suffering and loss with confidence and even cheerfully because we know that the only reason God allows hardship is because he will work it for our greatest good. Patience is to endure cheerfully when you face things you did not choose, do not like, cannot change - and cannot understand because we trust that God works all things for good for those who love him. Romans 8:28