There’s a somber mood out there. Have you noticed it?

Tokyo and Paris have both canceled their New Year celebration, out of terrorism fears. There is an edginess in New York. There are wars and rumors of them. Many are simply expecting something, but know not what.

As a new year begins, the seriousness of situations in the world, economic insecurity, uneasiness with the barreling rush of AI, strange phenomena claimed all over the internet (especially YouTube), and an overall sense of chaos, plus simple intuition, have caused many to bring in 2026 with frowns or at least mouths that form straight lines.

Not those who are “high” on the Lord: that joy never leaves. But there’s a difference between joy, which is a profound state of mind, and happiness, which is a mood and can be as fleeting as the reaction to a joke, and joy has left those who insist on facing these uncertain times without Jesus.

Happiness can contribute to joy, or at least jack it up, but is not to be confused with it.

Joy to the world, as they say—those who acknowledge the Infant.

During his final General Audience of the year on Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV recalled that the months just lived had been marked by events of contrasting significance. “Some of them joyful,” he said, “such as the pilgrimage of so many of the faithful on the occasion of the Holy Year; others painful, such as the passing of the late Pope Francis, and the scenarios of war that continue to convulse the planet.”

Noted the Washington D.C. exorcist Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, “I just returned to the big city after being away for several weeks. I went directly to a big box store to buy some items for the Sisters. After about twenty minutes, a realization dawned on me as I noticed all the people’s faces. They all looked miserable! Their faces were taut; their eyes were joyless; they seemed tense and irritable. No one was happy.”

A lot of that has to do with simple economics: it’s tough out there. People are struggling to pay for groceries, let alone gifts. But at church, frowns tend to turn into smiles.

And so we see the remedy.

It is as simple as the Manger.

Go into 2026 closer than ever, especially ye of dour mood, with Jesus.

[resources: Miracles of the Rosary and the Rosary of Miracles and Monsignor Rossetti’s My Confrontation with Hell]