Don’t worry; be happy these are the very first words of today’s mass: Be happy! Rejoice in the lord always; again I say rejoice. The Lord is near. This year Christmas will be a very happy time for a lot of people but also will be a challenging time for other people. The readings today will help us try to put a positive perspective on the celebration of Christmas this year. If we just look at a few of the phrases in the readings, they can be very uplifting. ‘Shout for joy’ ‘have no fear’ (365 time in the Bible, one for every day of the year) responsorial psalm: ‘sing and shout for joy’. One of the deepest cravings and longings of everyone is to have peace and happiness. What a lovely thought it is to be able to live at a certain level of serenity and inner peace no matter what life throws at us. To live in peace and happiness despite all the negativity and challenges is possible and that is what the liturgy tells us today. Sometimes we look for peace and happiness in the wrong places, If only I had enough money, if only I could get a job or more security in my own job, If only I could afford a winter holiday. Have you ever noticed how many more people buy lottery tickets when the prize money is bigger than usual? The happiness that Jesus offers us is of a different kind. Jesus tells us that it is in giving that we receive it is in dying (to ourselves) that we live. True happiness is not about getting and hoarding and showing how better off we are than those around us. It is about trusting in the Lord, it is about giving and sharing. It is about thinking less of our own needs and more of other people’s needs. During this past week on the radio, there was a lot of time dedicated to different groups who were organising dinners, concerts, and events for people who are less off than we are. We have a wonderful sense of human and Christian solidarity in Ireland, especially when it comes to helping out people who are in need? Let us share this joy let us proclaim Christ the source of this joy in our homes and families this Christmas. Why not decide to say some Advent prayers around the dinner table, or at another time in your home. Let us proclaim Christ to our relatives and friends. For example by the Christmas greetings we send them. It is amazing how many texts and jokes we post on social media, yet when we get a clean joke, or one with a spiritual tone in it, we are too ashamed to forward it. I received a wonderful tweet this week, which used the song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, the song of Queen, written by Freddie mercury in 1975, to relate the birth of Christ. Let us proclaim Christ to our friends’ relatives and neighbours, who have become inactive in their faith. A simple way is to invite them to go to Mass during the Christmas season. A book entitled: ‘Converts, Dropouts, and Returnees’ by a religious sociologist, Dr. Dean Hoge, claims that the happiest Catholics he interviewed were dropout Catholics who had returned to the practise of the faith. And the best recruiters of dropout Catholics were once dropouts themselves. He goes on to cite statistics that we all should seriously ponder. Two thirds of the thousands of Catholics, who return to the faith each year, do so because a neighbour, a friend, or a relative invited them to return. Advent can be and should be a time of waiting and longing. We all can remember as children how we used to look forward to Christmas, and how as children we enjoyed Christmas so much. Perhaps we can get back to that longing, especially to looking forward to the coming of Jesus on Christmas day. The Liturgy speaks about happiness today because in just a few days we will celebrate the birthday of the One who is the source of true happiness, Jesus our Saviour.