CALL TO BE JOYFUL

From the Province of Alessandria, Italy, 25 December 2012

The Christian vocation includes the call to be joyful. If we live properly in Christ Jesus, we will
increasingly share His resurrection joy despite the painful dimension of being human: “ I have told
you this that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete.” ( Jn 15:11 ).

The Christian who is not fundamentally joyful presents a contradiction. He or she claims to be
follower of the Jesus who has promised abundant life, abundant joy. To remove the contradiction,
such a Christian must look to himself or herself. Such a person does not lack a basic joy because
there is anything wanting in Jesus’ message. The person lacks joy because there is something
wanting in the self. In some way or another, for some reason or another, the person has failed to
assimilate properly the Gospel message. The Gospel is the good news. Jesus invites us to listen to
His Gospel, to respond to it, to live it ever more fully and dynamically. Jesus tells us that if we do,
we will experience a peace and joy that the world does not know. We know that Jesus does not lie,
that Jesus does not deceive, that Jesus does not cruelly excite the expectations of His followers and
then fail to fulfil them.

Again, if a Christian is lacking in joy, he or she has to look at the self and ask why. But one should
not ask this question in isolation. One should ask it in the company of Jesus. Jesus will help the
person find the answer. Jesus will help the person remedy the situation. Western, industrialized
culture has tended to create the illusion that joy can be bought and that, the more money one has,
the greater the prospects of enjoying life. This tragic illusion has time and again prevented people
from living in a manner which alone can give true joy.

Real and lasting joy comes only when we are consistently willing to expend the effort required to
grow in union with Jesus. Since this effort is a grace effort – one can accompanied by God’s grace
– we should pray daily for the grace to use the means God has put before us to grow in union with
Jesus. <<God is with us the “Emmanuel”, he lived among us>> is the major reason why we should
be happy. One of the greatest sources of joy is learning to share in the joy of others.

There are many daily occasions for experiencing joy, but we often pass them by unaware of their
joy – producing possibilities because we have foolishly narrowed our expectations regarding what
is a source of joy, and what is not. St. Paul says to us: “ I want you to be happy, always happy
in the Lord; I repeat, what I want is your happiness…There is no need to worry; but if there
is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and peace
of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your
thoughts, in Christ Jesus.”
( Phil 4:4-7 )

25 Dicember 2012