Franz Joseph Haydn wrote: “When I think of God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes leap and dance as they leave my pen: and since God has given me a cheerful heart, I serve him with a cheerful spirit.” Apparently the thought of God created spontaneous symphonies for Haydn. What does the thought of God do for you and me? For Haydn, God gave the joy that led to music, gifts to the world continually giving joy. And when we hear Haydn’s music or compositions of other famous composers, is our soul connected to the divine? Does praise of God leap from our mouths?

In Isaiah 55 we read “For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song.” Long before The Sound of Music, Isaiah knew “the hills are alive with the sound of music.” Going for a long walk in Oak Openings, I feel excited at the prospect of what I might see. This past weekend’s unseasonably warm weather brought humans out of hibernation, filling the paths with families of wide-eyed children. Completing the red trail, I felt the peace accompanying these minutes when my mind had only the focus of watching the path. A focused mindlessness that would lead later to meditation. George Herbert was right: “Where there is peace, God is.”

Mahatma Gandhi stated, “We must become the change we want to see in the world.” Lent and New Year’s Day are the traditional times to consider change. It’s easy to see that our world must change. We can’t continue polluting the air and water, we can’t keep killing one another, we can’t keep letting the poor become poorer, we can’t keep closing our borders to refugees and immigrants. But what can one person do in the face of world problems? I can recycle and reuse, I can become politically involved, I can participate in organizations that make my town and world better. I can become the change I want to see.

The catechumens are now approaching the third phase that begins with the Rite of Election on the First Sunday of Lent (February 13-14). After their names are enrolled during this ceremony, they will be called the Elect, and they have every right of the Catholic Church, such as a Catholic funeral.

Perhaps you will be present at the liturgies when the Elect enroll their names or celebrate the Scrutinies on the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent. Like everything else in liturgy, these rites are not spectator sports. We baptized Catholics also enter into the ceremonies. Will we intensify our dying with Christ in surrender to God?  Will we change our style of living in areas that require scrutiny?  Will we become a Sprit-filled community of deeply committed Christians who bear witness to our faith? Are we undergoing adult conversion? No matter how old we are or how many times we have received the sacraments, we are all in the process of formation. Our baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation were just milestones.  Now keep on going!!!!

As we begin Lent and look for ways to improve, the first place to look is with our family. George Bernard Shaw wrote, “A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” How true! Is there some tension in the family? Is there an elephant in the living room that no one wants to address? Even in the best families, there are things that could be altered for mutual benefit. Besides personal resolutions, discuss with spouse or family those family idiosyncrasies that could be part of Lent’s metanoia, the change of heart that will make everyone’s hearts a little lighter.

St. Francis de Sales wrote: “Lent is the autumn of the spiritual life when we pick the fruit and gather it for the whole year.” Really?  Autumn? Isn’t Lent the springtime of the Church Year? (This year’s early Ash Wednesday even makes Lent more like mid-winter.)  Well, let’s humor St. Francis by going along with his idea. Is Lent the autumn of the spiritual life? Hm… Let us count the ways. First, Lent is not for wimps. Spring flowers and foliage are quite delicate, while in autumn nature is hardy, having weathered the storms and sun of summer. You’ve got a point, St. Francis. Lent is for hardy souls, souls of autumn. Second, in autumn nature prepares for winter, as animals attest as they gather food and grow thick fur. Similarly, Lent prepares for the Easter Season. Lent’s regimen of prayer-fasting-almsgiving prepares us for a heightened spiritual life celebrating the resurrection. Third, after the brilliant weeks of red, orange, and green, autumn becomes rather blah, often cloudy and damp. Lent, too, has lots of ordinary days, especially the blah days of February. But the best part about ordinary is that it highlights the extraordinary. Easter becomes that much brighter, louder, more energizing and glorious. OK, St. Francis, we’ll pick the autumn fruits of Lent and use Lent’s fruits throughout the whole year.

Although my eyes are nondescript, my driver’s license claims they’re “blue.”  Actually the color could be a blob of green, brown, and blue paint. The license is just a guess. Other parts of me are quite descriptive. My fingers are short and stolid—nothing to look at but great for playing forte on the final chord. My hardy feet can wear out anybody’s 7 ½ hand-me-down shoes. Thick head of hair, rather long nose, attached ear lobes, and wide teeth attest to my parents’ genes and chromosomes.

Recently I read a poem about God’s genes in us. We can’t look like God who is Spirit, but Matthew Kelly’s book Rediscover Jesus begins with a story in which a blind woman asks someone who helps her, “Are you Jesus?”

Be grateful for God’s genes, and let the wonders of divine heredity work in you. We can be sons and daughters in whom God is well pleased and sees the Godself. Imagine God saying, “You’re a spittin’ image of Me.”

Some words or phrases are just plain fun to say. They delight the mouth and please the ear. At times the consonants and vowels shape the facial muscles into a friendly mien. For a pleasant countenance, try these words: delightful, supreme, ebony, alleluia. Here are some fun words to say aloud: circuitous, slithering, diplomatic, soothing, recalcitrant, surreptitious.

Simply because of their sound Scripture phrases may stick in my head. The phrase that reverberates most often is “love following upon love” (Jn. 1:16). Wouldn’t it be wonderful if my whole day were love following upon love? I know that God’s love toward me is love following upon love. After all, God can’t stop loving me! But what about my day? My response to God? My attitudes and actions toward others and myself? Well, sometimes it’s stumbling following upon stumbling or fumbling following upon fumbling. Or it might ineptness to ineptness instead of  another of my loved phrases “glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). I trust that God transforms my limitations to humility following upon humility. And when my heart is attuned to God, love follows upon love.

Christ is the union of all created reality in the love of God. Everything in the universe streams toward Christ to find completion. One day all creation will become the Body of Christ, God’s Body. I imagine that on that day the sounds of laughter will reverberate throughout the universe. Happiness will reign when all creation finds its goal in Christ.

In the sixth century Irish missionaries used Advent as a time to emphasize the last judgment. Thus Advent became a penitential season with fasting, prayer, and purple vestments—in other words, another Lent.  In Rome in that same century, under Pope Gregory the Great, Advent focused on the Incarnation during the four weeks before Christmas. By the time the Roman liturgy took its present shape we were into the eleventh century. The Church borrowed elements from its three main types of “Advents” in previous centuries. While retaining purple vestments, Advent became primarily a season of joyful expectation.