Advent is a season of anticipation, a time when we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Christ and await His promised return. This third week of Advent, liturgically marked by the theme of joy, is bookended this year by Saturday, December 21st, celebrated as the Winter Solstice—the longest night of the year. This juxtaposition mirrors the natural tensions of the season, where light and darkness, joy and sorrow, often coexist.

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For many, this time of year is not solely marked by festive lights and cheerful gatherings. It is also a time of longer nights, colder days, and a tangible heaviness that can accompany the darkness. For those who face seasonal depression or carry grief and loss, the long night feels not just physical but deeply emotional and spiritual.

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In this context, how do we hold onto joy? How do we find it amidst the shadows that sometimes linger in our hearts? To answer these questions, we turn to the Magnificat, Mary’s song of praise in Luke 1:46-55. Mary’s words are an anthem of joy that speak not just to her personal experience but to the larger joy that Christ brings into the world.

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Mary’s situation, on the surface, was anything but joyful. A young, unmarried woman, pregnant under mysterious circumstances, living in a society where her condition would have invited scorn and rejection. Yet, when she visits her cousin Elizabeth and is greeted with prophetic affirmation and feelings of freudenfreude (a German term for the emotion of “joy for the joy of others’ sake”), Mary’s response is to lift her voice in a song of exultation:

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“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” (Luke 1:46-49, ESV)

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Mary’s joy is not rooted in her circumstances. It is grounded in the character and promises of God. She magnifies the Lord, not because her life is free of difficulty (quite the opposite), but because she recognizes that God is at work in the midst of it. Her joy flows from a deep trust in God’s faithfulness and a profound understanding of His redemptive plan.

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Mary’s song also invites us to see joy as something communal and cosmic. She proclaims:

“He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” (Luke 1:51-53, ESV)

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Her words echo the themes of justice, mercy, and reversal that define God’s kingdom. Joy, in Mary’s song, is not just an individual experience but a declaration of God’s transformative work in the world. It is the joy of knowing that God is lifting the lowly, feeding the hungry, and bringing hope to the oppressed.

For those of us who feel the weight of this season—the darkness of the longest night, the ache of unfulfilled longing, the sting of grief—Mary’s Magnificat offers a profound truth: Joy is not the absence of sorrow but the presence of hope. It is a hope anchored in the reality that God sees us, loves us, and is actively working to redeem all things.

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This week, we lit the candle of joy. Its pink hue, divergent from the other colors of the Advent wreath, causes us to pause and reflect on how countercultural it can be to embrace joy—to rejoice for others’ sake and to celebrate even in the midst of hardship.

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The longest night reminds us of the rhythm of creation: that darkness does not last forever, and light always returns. Similarly, Advent reminds us that Christ’s coming has brought light into our darkness, and His return will bring the fullness of joy. In the meantime, we are invited to sing with Mary, to magnify the Lord even when our circumstances are difficult, and to find joy in the promise of His faithfulness.

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As we prepare our hearts for Christmas, may we carry the joy of Mary’s Magnificat into the world. May we be people who magnify the Lord with our lives, who bring hope to those in need, and who trust in the promise that God is making all things new. Even in the longest night, joy can be our song, for Christ is our light.