St. Paul exhorts us in his letter to
the Philippians to rejoice, not just once but twice: “Rejoice
in the Lord; I say it again: rejoice in the Lord.” (Phil. 4:4). Pope Francis’ Apostolic exhortation
reiterates the same theme—“The Joy of the Gospel”. St. Francis de Sales remarks on spiritual
progress commenting that after sin the worse thing is sadness. St. Ignatius agrees, warning us that when we
are in a state of desolation—that is to say sadness and discouragement—that is
the moment that we are a prime target for the fiery arrows of the devil.
Why then should we avoid sadness and
be constantly living in a state of joy? There are many reasons, but we would like
to offer ten simple reasons to be rejoicing constantly and exultantly.
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| The Blessed Trinity |
1.
BAPTISMAL GRACES. Once baptized we receive so many graces that
we can barely count them. However of primary importance is that through Baptism
we establish a deep Friendship with three Divine Persons—the Father, the Son
and the Holy Spirit. In Baptism God becomes our Father; Jesus becomes our elder
Brother; the Holy Spirit becomes both the Sweet Guest of our soul and our best
Friend. Rejoice in God’s Friendship!
2.
SANCTIFYING GRACE. If we can strive to live in the state of
sanctifying grace then the Friendship with God is constant. We are never alone;
loneliness becomes alien to our lifestyle. We can close our eyes and seek the
God within the depths of our souls. How happy this should make us!
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| Divine Mercy and the Blessed Sacrament |
3.
MERCY! Even if we fall one hundred times a day, we
know that our God is slow to anger and rich in mercy. As soon as our heart
beats with the words “Jesus mercy, Jesus forgive me; Jesus I love you”—then
once again this treasure of His Friendship is restored and it is sealed in the
sacrament of Confession. “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His
mercy endures forever.”
4.
BLESSED SACRAMENT.
What overflowing and immense joy we should
experience in knowing that Jesus said that He would be with us even until the
end of the world. Where is He? Response: in the Church. However, most
especially He is truly Present (The Real Presence) in the consecrated Host
present in all of the Tabernacles of the world. Let us rejoice and come let us
adore Him.
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| Archangel Raphael our companion in life |
5.
ST. RAPHAEL. An invitation! Why not delve into your Bible and go to the
Old Testament where you will find a short but truly inspiring book from the
Wisdom literature with the title of the Book of Tobit. In this spiritual masterpiece you will find a
heart-warming Friend; he is actually one of the three Archangels mentioned in
the Bible. His name is Raphael, meaning
God heals. One of his special gifts is
to befriend us and to fill us with joy. Why not invoke this holy angel every
day for nine days (a novena) and you will notice that your sadness will melt as
the snow exposed to the midday sun.
6.
SAINTS. Not only should we walk and talk with the
Archangel Raphael but we should be in constant contact and communion with the
saints. While on earth the saints were
the most joyful men and women. However in heaven their joy is boundless. Still they so earnestly long to share their
joy, which is their Friendship with God, with us on earth. Call out to them
now! By the way, who are your three favorite saints? Beg them to share the joy
they experience with you now. Your joy will abound!
7.
HEAVEN. The reality of the existence of Heaven and
the knowledge that Jesus has already gone there to prepare a place for you
should cause an explosion of joy in your soul right now. Listen to Jesus’
words: “I go now to prepare a place for you so that where I am you also might
be. In my Father’s house there are many mansions.” Wow!
Jesus has not only prepared a place for you, but a huge, beautiful,
spacious, ineffable mansion for you for all eternity. No cracks, dust, ants, cockroaches, leaks, mildew—none
of these, but the best of resting places, all this is yours if you simply
persevere in grace. Mary, full of grace pray for us!
8.
PRAYER. If you wanted to talk to some celebrity,
President, star, hero, high-class dignitary most likely it would take a year
and a day to possibly set up a short meeting.
How extraordinary is God’s love for us that in any time, any place, any
circumstance that we want to we can talk to God and He is ready to listen and
respond. Too often people are too busy
and simply do not have time for us—sad to say, even those who should be closest
to us! Not so with God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They are always at our beck and call. How
humble and loving our God is! Rejoice exultantly in the reality of prayer. Why
not make a proposal right now to augment your joy: strive to pray a little bit
more and a little bit better every day. Your joy will be like the fireworks of
the fourth of July!
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| Prayer brings great joy to our soul |
9.
GOD THE MOST GENEROUS OF GIVERS. In all honesty, and with the most profound
humility and deepest sincerity, we should all admit that everything that we
have—except the sins that we willfully choose to commit—is a pure gratuitous
gift from God. As the Apostle Paul
reminds us, quoting one of the Greek poets, “In
Him we live and move and have our being.” Thank God constantly for His
abundant and ceaseless gifts to you.
Have you ever noticed this fact: when you exercise gratitude towards God
joy surges in your heart? Try it!
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| St. Dominic Savio's great love for Mary |
10. OUR LADY: Our life,
our sweetness and our hope! One of the
titles of Mary in her Litany is Cause of
our joy. After his death, St Dominic
Savio returned appearing to St. John Bosco and told the great saint of the
youth that his greatest joy in the short 14 years and 11 months of his life was his great love
and affection towards Our Lady. Savio exhorted St. John Bosco to follow that
path of promoting love and devotion to Mary.
In your life get to know Mary, love Mary, invoke Mary, pray to Mary,
consecrate your life to Jesus through Mary and spread devotion to Mary. If you
do, then undoubtedly you will experience in the depths of your soul an
ineffable joy which will overflow in your life to all those you meet.
In conclusion, friends in Jesus and
Mary, let us strive to spread the joy of the Gospel right now and live out a
life of constant joy. We might as well get into the habit of rejoicing now in
the Lord because we will be rejoicing with exultant joy in heaven for all eternity!
