The Gigantic Secret
(Zeph.3:14-18; Phil.4:4-7; Lk.3:10-18)
When I was a boy living with my family in India, my mother said something that intrigued me.
She said, ‘You can always tell if someone’s a Christian by their eyes.’ I wondered if this was true, so I started checking the eyes of everyone I knew, including Hindus and Christians.
Since then, I’ve checked countless eyes, and today I’d say they’re not a reliable indicator of faith, because other factors may apply. However, there is some truth in my mother’s words, for our eyes can say a lot about our hearts.
If you do develop a deep, personal relationship with Jesus, you will discover an interior peace and purpose that’s simply profound. It’s like turning on a bright light inside you, and so often it shines through your eyes.
But what is that bright light? It’s joy. GK Chesterton talks about it in his book Orthodoxy. He calls joy ‘the small publicity of the pagan (and) the gigantic secret of the Christian.’ [i]
Why is it ‘small publicity’ to the pagan? Chesterton says it’s because their joys are small. Only the little things in life give them pleasure; the big things just leave them cold.
‘To the pagan,’ he says, ‘the small things are as sweet as the small brooks breaking out of the mountain; but the broad things (like the existence of God) are as bitter as the sea.’
Christian joy, however, is different because it’s the big things (especially God himself) that give us life and a sense of purpose. And it’s a ‘gigantic secret’ because our secular world can’t see or understand this.
Our world tends to think that Christianity is far too serious and restrictive to produce anything like joy. But joy is central to our Christian identity, even when times are hard. It comes from realising just how much God loves us, despite our failings, and that he’s always with us, regardless of what happens.
We can see this joy flourishing in hard times in our readings today.
In our first reading, the prophet Zephaniah is in Jerusalem, where idolatry and corruption are rife. You might think he’d be unhappy, but he’s not. Instead, he says ‘Rejoice! Have no fear!’ because God is coming, and God has promised to renew their lives.
Similarly, in his letter St Paul tells the Thessalonians to be joyful, because God is near. Stop worrying, he says, for God loves you. And if you need anything, just ask for it, for God will give you a peace that’s beyond all understanding.
And in our Gospel, St John the Baptist is in the desert. He’s in occupied territory living an austere life, but he’s not unhappy. Instead, he joyfully announces the good news: the Messiah is coming!
We can see this joy flourishing in the lives of the saints, too. St John Bosco spent his life helping troubled boys in Turin, and although he faced many serious obstacles, his faith was so strong that he was known for his joyfulness and laughter.
St. Philip Neri lived at a time of great turmoil, and he faced great resistance in working with the poor in Rome. But he loved God so much that his spirit of joy and fun became legendary.
And more recently, Chiara Luce Badano was an ordinary Italian girl, born in 1971. She loved singing, dancing and being with friends. When she was 17, she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. It turned out to be a cancer that spread quickly, and soon she was paralysed.
But instead of being terrified, she was filled with a supernatural joy that surprised everyone. She offered her suffering as a sacrifice to God, saying, ‘For you, Jesus. If you want it, I want it too!’
Some of her friends said, ‘We thought we’d visit Chiara to keep her spirits up. However, we soon realised that we were the ones who needed her. Her life was a magnet drawing us towards her.’
One of her doctors said, ‘Through her smile, and through her eyes full of light, she showed us that death doesn’t exist; only life exists.’
Just before she died, aged 18, Chiara said, ‘Don’t cry for me. I’m going to Jesus. At my funeral, I don’t want people crying, but singing with all their hearts.’
Chiara was beatified in 2010.’[ii]
She was called ‘Luce’ because of the bright light that constantly burned inside her. It even shined through her eyes.
This, then, is the gigantic secret: Joy isn’t about avoiding hardship or pursuing pleasure – it’s about discovering God’s presence in our lives.
When we find this joy, it’s like switching on a bright light inside us.
And if you look carefully, you might just see it shining through our eyes.
[i] GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy, Ch.9, 1957 – https://archive.org/details/orthodoxy00chesuoft/page/240/mode/2up
[ii] https://aleteia.org/2017/11/26/meet-chiara-badano-an-average-teenager-who-loved-to-play-tennis-and-listen-to-pop-music/