Book Review: “Joy Has Come to You”
“You will show me the path to life, abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever” - Psalm 16:11
Happy book birthday to Catholic Women in Business contributing writer Natalie Hanemann! Natalie’s new Advent devotional is out today, and it is absolutely gorgeous.
“Joy Has Come to You: Catholic Advent Meditations on the Birth of the King” invites readers on a “holy adventure” to encounter Jesus anew this Advent season. With thoughtful devotions, carefully selected Scripture passages, practical applications, delightful prayers, and stunning illustrations, this book delivers. If you are looking for a new devotional to focus on this upcoming Advent, I can’t recommend it enough.
As she works her way through the four weeks of Advent, Natalie’s devotions move through themes of trusting, believing, sharing, and beholding. Each entry ends with a pair of questions for thoughtful application, which genuinely stirred me. To complete this review, I had to read the book quickly, but I intend to return to it and savor it throughout the Advent season. Many of these questions deserve my further attention.
Natalie encourages us to savor the gifts we have been given to build lives that are “holy thank yous” to the Creator who is “crazy in love with us.” By letting Him in, we grow and learn that the greatest gifts don’t come in “packages with ribbons and bows.” “Advent is the perfect time to remind people that God is still active in the world,” she writes.
There are so many quotable sentences in this beautiful little book:
“Nothing you could do would change how He feels about you.”
“God doesn’t like being distanced from us.”
“Staying watchful requires that we slow down to better see what God is calling to our attention.”
“He can break through the noise and make His purpose known to us if we stay watchful.”
“Heaven on earth can happen in the small details of daily life.”
I especially love the title, “Joy Has Come to You,” which evoked the already-but-not-yet nature of our Catholic faith. Joy HAS come into the world, and joy IS coming both with the Christmas season and the return of our Lord and Savior. We await a renewed presence of a gift we have already received. This book invites us to slow down, enjoy that gift, and to never stop believing in it.
Wishing you the contagious joy of Christ’s unfailing love!
Catholic Women in Business Managing Editor Sharon Bengel is a cradle Catholic with more than 30 years of experience in writing, communications and publication design. A recovering newspaper reporter with a crush on the prophet Jeremiah, Sharon loves discovering new things about the scriptures. She runs an LLC out of her home office in southwest Ohio where she keeps a stash of chocolate for her grandkids.