Finding Joy

 

Most of us could stand to have a little more joy in our lives.  In fact, Thomas Aquinas says that man cannot live without joy. And if he does not find authentic joy, he will inevitably be drawn to carnal delights (pleasures of the flesh) and the innumerable addictions that derive from them. Pope St. John Paul II speaks of joy this way:  “God made us for joy. God is joy, and the joy of living reflects the original joy that God felt in creating us.”  

 

Actually, the joyful mysteries of the Rosary give us some deep insights into the fundamental sources of this joy.  Simply put, joy comes from contact with God.  Increasing contact with Him leads to increasing joy.  Ironically enough, the deepest sufferings can also lead to the deepest joy because they are the point of deepest contact with Christ.  Let’s look at what the mysteries show us.  

 

The Annunciation shows us that the announcement of a child is a cause for joy.  The contact with God here is clear.  Every couple who has ever conceived knows that a child's conception is in God's hands.  When a child becomes present, one must go through God and touch God to understand the great mystery the parents are participating in.  This mystery manifests that moving in God’s will brings joy as shown in Our Lady’s immediate response:  “My Spirit rejoices in God my Savior…”

 

The Visitation also shows sources of joy.  Centuries before, David danced for joy before the Ark of the Covenant as it was carried through the streets.   In this mystery, John the Baptist dances and leaps for joy in the womb of his mother, Elizabeth, in the presence of the New Ark of the Covenant, Mary, carrying the Christ Child.  Yet another point of joy is displayed in Our Lady's charity toward her aged cousin.  She goes out immediately to help.  “Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me.”  The joy this generates is something that becomes observable outside the religious sphere.  Oftentimes, people who are depressed are encouraged to go outside of themselves to help others in some way.  Why?  Because we feel good when we help others.  It’s somehow built into our psychic structure.  We are created to care for others.  It’s part of our being made in the image and likeness of God.  

 

The Birth of a Child at Christmas is undoubtedly a universal source of joy, and has been for the last 2000 years.  All births are meant to bring this kind of joy.  Upon seeing, touching, and holding their newborn, parents often feel overwhelmed by a kind of love they have never felt before.  That love is a source of deep joy because there is something divine about it.  The nearness of God in the little child whose angel directly sees the Face of God is sometimes palpable.  And to be entrusted with the life of that little one who, with his/her immortal soul, will live forever, takes you out of yourself, beyond yourself into mysteries of God that cannot necessarily be articulated but which are very real. God’s joy, which we can participate in, is particularly intense with the birth of a child, especially His own Son.  

 

The Presentation, the fourth joyful mystery of the rosary, lines up with Baptism/Consecration as another source or wellspring of joy.  How can we not be joyful when we know Baptism removes that little one from the Kingdom of darkness and brings him/her into the Kingdom of God, brings them into the family of God, and makes them a child who now belongs to God?  Again, life in God is the source of real joy.

 

The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple gives us a straightforward lesson:  finding Jesus anytime, anywhere, under any circumstances, causes great joy.  Certainly, this was the case for Mary and Joseph.  But we can see this in other ways as well.  Think particularly of converts or reverts.  They are often so excited, so full of joy at finding Jesus, that they perhaps can become a little over-zealous.  But nonetheless, the joy is real.  

 

Christ is the remedy for joylessness. If you want more joy, peace, and security in your life, draw near to Him. Pray more, spend time in Adoration, find ways to be with Him, and keep His presence. 

 

Watch for Part 2:  Suffering and Joy

 

 

1.    What would you say are some of the Joyful Mysteries of your own life?

 

2.    What do you think is the difference between joy and happiness?

 

3.    Remember that we are created for joy. Practically speaking, what can you do to dispose yourself for an increase of joy in your life?

 

4.    C. S. Lewis wrote a famous, autobiographical book called:  “Surprised By Joy.” Have you ever been surprised by joy?  What have you learned about joy?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHRISTMAS AND THE GIANT WITHIN

 

Jesus has laid down several conditions for entering the kingdom of God.  These are well known and, of course, revolve around eliminating sin in our lives and becoming holy, becoming like Jesus.  But He also said we have to become like little children. The problem is that many of us wouldn’t fit through the heavenly gates the way we are now.  Our giant ego, our giant pride, our giant sensitivity, our giant selfishness, our giant need to be in control, keep us spiritually “obese.” We have to “lose” this excess “weight.”  

The most efficacious and immediate way this happens is through an actual encounter with Christ. Christmas, in particular, sets the stage in such a way that every year, we are given the opportunity and special grace to walk right into the mystery of God’s love for us. We are invited to actively engage with God by receiving Him as a newborn Child. Who is not disarmed by the presence of a tiny babe, utterly at the mercy of those around him and dependent on even the most basic help?

It can be wise to really identify the giant within because this is what needs core conversion in us. Giants are typically depicted as unpleasant fellows. They tower menacingly over ordinary people, and their size alone is considered intimidating. They are present in many fairytales and myths cross-culturally, and they often depict a kind of aberration of the human person, whose worst qualities have gained the upper hand. As such, giants come across as negative characters, monsters even, at deep odds with ordinary human beings. They tend to illustrate the degradation ordinary vices can lead us into if we do nothing about them.

The extraordinary grace of Christmas is that everyone is invited into the inner world of the God-Man, Emmanuel, God with us! Who also seeks to enter our inner world and to share life with us. However, only the humble heart can enter the Christmas cave that holds the Christ Child. Giants do not fit. Or rather, their self-inflated importance cannot stand in the face of the humblest, most loving, most kind, most beautiful Friend we will ever have.

Oscar Wilde, who lived life according to his name, is said to have undergone a conversion towards the end of his life. He wrote a fairy tale, which he claimed was somewhat autobiographical, called The Selfish Giant. It is a very moving story about a giant with a beautiful garden who is so selfish that he will not let the local children play in it. But then he notices that winter comes and never leaves. The giant wonders why the beautiful weather is so late in coming.

One morning, he hears the birds singing outside and excitedly gets up to see that the children have snuck into the garden and are playing in the trees, which are now in full bloom and happily receiving the children into their branches.  But in one corner of the garden, the giant notices it is still winter.  A little boy is crying by a tree that is too tall for him to climb onto.  The giant walks up behind the boy and gently places him on the branches.  The little boy is so happy he throws his arms around the giant and kisses him.  At this moment, the giant’s heart melts, and he realizes his selfishness and vows from then on to give the garden over to the children.  

 

He never sees his little friend again, and the children do not know who he is.  The giant watches and enjoys the children every day but misses his friend, whom he loves the most because he kissed him.  When the giant is very old, the little boy shows up one morning, and the giant joyously runs out to meet him.  As he approaches, he becomes angry because he sees wounds in the hands and feet of the little boy.  The giant wants to take his sword and kill whoever did this.  But the little boy tells him they are the wounds of love, and because the giant let him play in his garden once, he has now come to take him to his garden, Paradise.  

 

There is some giant thing in all of us that needs to be tamed, to be made subject to God’s love and not our own ego.  One gaze of love, one embrace, one smile from the Christ Child is all it takes.  That is the real Christmas gift God offers us.  May you find it this Christmas in the garden of your own heart.

 

1.   Do you have any “giants” in your life?  (Selfishness? Negativity? Greed? Envy? Anger? Etc.)

 

2.   What is the remedy for bringing the unruly aspects of our personalities and our character into line?  

 

3.   Why is humility hard for us?  What makes it easier?

 

4.   What are the fruits of humility in the present context?  

 

 

 

 

 

GOD’S PROTECTIVE LOVE

I know a woman who has been struggling for some time with what I would call demonic harassment. She is not possessed. At least, that is my untrained opinion, based on a modicum of study and experiences over the years in work and apostolate. Several recognizable things emerge that are clear marks of activity not from God. But there is one noticeable thing that consistently appears in the fray:  discouragement and a loss of hope that things will be different. 

A very simple tendency in us allows that kind of spirit to take root. In the simplest terms, it is taking our eyes off Christ and trying to understand and defeat the enemy on our own. We are easily overwhelmed by a superior intelligence that knows how to capture our attention and keep it locked on distractions so that we even come sometimes to completely focus on everything but God.  We may even come to think God doesn’t care when His intervention doesn’t seem apparent.

 

Our response instead should be one of drawing even closer to Christ in faith and deepening our reliance on Him.  The mere thought of Him, the sound of His Name, and His prevailing presence are enough to make even the most malicious spirits leave and tenacious attacks dissipate.  Beyond that, the Church provides additional formal help if the situation warrants it.

But the simple answer is to be like St. Peter walking on the water in the midst of a wild storm.  So long as he kept his eyes on Jesus and not on the waves, he stood above even the laws of nature.  But only in Jesus.  

The enemy likes to remain hidden, but if he knows we are on to him, he will work to keep us fearful, bewildered, and separated from God. He will distract us from developing and relying on our relationship with God by confusing our thoughts and creating various ruckus around us. All of that can pull us away from turning to and trusting in God. 

The truth is we should be far more interested in a real relationship with Our Lord than curious about the dark forces that manifest around us at times. This was the strength of the Apostles.  They encountered the Kingdom of Darkness often in their ministry.  But they kept Christ as their center and moved from His light and grace and strength, in the gifts He had given them (and gives us, by the way) to resist the devil and cause him to take flight.  They did not allow the devil to take center stage.  They neutralized him and went about their work evangelizing people into genuine relationships with Christ. 

The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd has a particularly acute insight into this dynamic and how important it is for growing in a healthy and well-ordered relationship with God.  The first step is to understand that God loves us with a protective love.  He is the Good Shepherd who leaves the 99 and goes in search of the one missing.  It’s a consoling truth that when we are lost, Jesus is actually looking for us and finding ways to bring us back.  This has universal appeal to the smallest of children who intuitively know that this is the way God loves us, that is if the adults around them haven’t squashed it out of them with their own pessimism or distorted views of God.

When we arrive in eternity, we will know and understand many things.  One of the astounding discoveries will be to see how many times Jesus, the angels, saints, etc., saved us from dangers we weren’t even aware of.  How many times have they saved us, even from untimely death, so that the purposes of our lives could be fulfilled?  How many times have we judged something to be bad when, in fact, it was sent as a great blessing for our lives and saved us from unforeseen evils?  God’s providence never violates our free will, but it is one of the most prominent ways He intervenes in our lives for our own blessing and benefit.

Try to create an interior “room” within yourself that is for you and Jesus alone.  Spend time there with Him, and let Him help you surrender to His infinite love for you.  When you come to perfection in this, all your interest and attention will become rightly ordered, and all fear, even in the face of the greatest evils, will be cast out.  (1 John 4:18)

1.   Has Jesus ever asked you to walk on water? (do something that seems impossible for you and that demanded real faith in Him?). How did you fare?

 

2.    When unexpected challenges come, who is the first one you turn to, whether it be for help or to share?

 

3.   How can you grow in reorienting yourself to the Lord so that turning to Him is your immediate and first response in all things?

 

4.    Have you ever experienced Jesus “finding” you after difficulties that may have separated or distanced you from Him?

 

 

 

Sr. Anne Marie 

 

Christian Resistance to Evil

CHRISTIAN RESISTANCE TO EVIL – Session 66

The ordinary Christian knows something the unbeliever does not.  When Christians, especially Catholics, look at the state of the world, they know the primary source of evil is not cultural, political, or sociological.  It’s spiritual.  “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground.”  Eph 6:12-13

As Catholics, we do not believe that anyone is born evil.  God creates us good.  We are, however, born wounded in the integrity of our nature because of the first sin.  The original harmony and unity between us and God, between us and others, between us and creation, and finally, the harmony within ourselves was lost as a consequence of this first sin.  And the battle between good and evil in our lives was directly engaged from that moment on. 

This leads us to reflect that if the grand conflicts in life, in our time, are spiritual, then the answers to resolving them must likewise be spiritual.  What would be some of the ways then that we, as believers, can offer effective resistance to evil? 

The Holy Father gives us a good place to start.  He recently shared a reflection on a German religious sister who died in the Auschwitz concentration camp, Angela Autsh. “Even before being arrested, when the evil looming over the world was already evident, she invited her nephews, who were approaching Holy Communion for the first time. She invited her relatives who had strayed a little, and she also invited those who had remained devout to rebel against that evil with simple and, in some places, dangerous gestures, to come as close as possible to the Sacrament of the altar, to rebel through Communion.  For her, to urge frequent communion, especially in prayer for the Pope and the Church, which was persecuted at that time, meant finding in the Eucharist a bond that strengthens the vigor of the Church herself, a bond that strengthens this vigor between her members and with God, and for her, it meant to “organize” the fabric of a resistance that the enemy cannot unravel because it does not respond to a human plan” -Pope  Francis

Read that again!  Are fervent communions a source of resistance to evil?  What a powerful insight into the workings of grace and into the real needs of those who have fallen sway to the enemy.  Fervent Communions, something the enemy loathes, actually disarm the enemy; they make him powerless. So, he constantly seeks to keep us from the Mass and worthy Communions because it is indeed one of the most powerful weapons we have precisely because it is the “source and summit” of our whole lives of union with the Lord.

Jesus confirms in the Sermon on the Mt that resistance to evil is not what we think. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” Mt 5:44-45

What are other ways the Christian is called to resist evil?  Fervent prayer, of course.  Fasting, considered a form of exorcism by the early Church, is especially powerful, as Our Lady tells us it can suspend the laws of nature and even end wars.  Simply refusing to comply with evil in the midst of those who embrace it, even if it leads to Martyrdom is another compelling way in which evil is resisted, and the faith is spread exponentially.  

But these are not the normal, vengeance-based responses that most people make to evil. Ours should follow the direction of St. Paul, wherein we repay evil with good instead of evil for evil. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head” (Rms 12:20). That’s the way of God with us and it should be our way with others as well.

1.    Normally speaking, what is your first reaction to evil?

2.    How have you experienced evil in your own life?  

 

3.     Most of the time, we are not aware of the spiritual significance of our behavior and how it will play out in time.  How do you understand the consequences of the way we respond to evil in our lives?

4.     Can you think of other ways to resist evil that Jesus would approve of?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

The Burden of the Age
 
Life’s burdens come in many forms.  What is a burden for one may not be a burden for another.  But what is certain is that everyone either carries or has had to carry burdens in their lifetime.  
 
Of all the possible burdens that may come to us, it is wise to consider which are the heaviest, the most debilitating, and really the most unnecessary.  There is a difference between those that are essential in our lives and those holding us back from the life we were meant to live.
 
Essential burdens revolve around commitments and responsibilities necessary for growth, development, maturity, and our humanity in general, such as family and community demands, personal obligations, charitable outreach, care in times of illness, etc.
 
A story from the life of St. Jerome illustrates a kind of burden that is the opposite, that holds us back from the future that Jesus has for us.  
 
St. Jerome had just finished decades of work on translating the Bible from Hebrew to Latin.    It was around Christmas time, and Baby Jesus appeared to him and asked him what gift he would give to Him for his birthday.  Jerome responded by offering Him the work he had just completed.  Jesus was pleased but told Jerome He wanted more.  Jerome then offered Him his life, his heart, his prayer.  But each time, Baby Jesus asked for more.  Finally, Jerome asked Him, “What else can I give you?”  Jesus smiled and said: “Jerome, give me your sins!”
 
This is probably the heaviest burden people bear today: the sins, guilt, and regret of things chosen and done in their lifetimes.  This can be true even of those who regularly go to Confession.  We come out again, not really understanding our sins are gone. We confess like Protestants who believe only that their sins are covered over.  Catholics do not believe this.  We believe that once our sins are confessed, they are gone forever.  God remembers them no more; even the devil can no longer access them to accuse us.  
 
While penance and reparation are good and necessary, they are meant to strengthen us in our resolve and, in the grace of repentance, not become a new burden to carry.  Jesus does not stay stuck in our sins the way we do.  He does not constantly revisit them the way we do.  He wills to remember them no more.  They are gone.  Instead, Jesus beckons us to follow Him into the future.  It does us no good to stay back, clutching our forgiven sins as though they are still there.  And it is even more deleterious not to confess at all.  Unconfessed guilt can make us sick and so unbalanced psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually that we become incapable of building and living the kind of life that would make us and those around us happy. 
 
The movie The Mission illustrates this dynamic well.  Captain Mendoza, one of the main characters, a mercenary involved in the slave trade, kills his brother in a duel after finding him with his fiancé.  His regret is so powerful that it becomes a force for his own conversion, even bringing him to the point where he joins the Jesuits as a missionary to the native peoples.  His self-imposed punishment/penance is to drag a large net full of heavy armor and the tools of his mercenary life as they travel through the jungles to establish a mission among the people who live there.  At times on the journey, his brothers try to free him of his burden by cutting the rope that continually drags him backward.  But he doesn’t believe he is forgiven until finally, the native people he has exploited demonstrate forgiveness by cutting the rope that binds him to the past.
 
Rather than dragging the burden of sin into the new year, we also can be done with it once and for all. In the Confessional, the Priest who hears our Confession “in persona Christi,” in the Person of Christ, takes the sword of the Spirit and severs the sin, the regret, and the guilt of it from our lives.  This causes great rejoicing in heaven and, at the same time, fills our souls with the energy, hope, and joy in which Jesus can begin fulfilling His promises in us.
 

1.     What are some of the common burdens people carry today?

 

2.     What do you think is meant by “Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ?” Galatians 6:2 

 

3.     What might be some unnecessary burdens we place on ourselves that actually hinder us in our relationship with God and with others?

 

4.     What are some ways we can lighten another’s load?

Our Lady and the Prophecy of Simeon

Every person’s life is marked by sorrows and joys. The two are often intertwined in such a way as to make one impossible without the other.

When considering Our Lady of Sorrows, it is good to keep in mind that sorrow is always related to love. We do not grieve what we do not love. The higher the love, the more profound the grief when the good we love is lost, threatened, abused or violated in some way.

Who can measure the sorrows of Our Lady? The fullness of grace abiding in her infused her with a love that transcends our human limitations. Because of this, her sorrow can also be immeasurable.

Simeon’s prophecy, as Mary and Joseph present the infant Jesus in the Temple, is the first public pronouncement to Mary of where her relationship with the God-Man, her child, will take her. Simeon utters mysterious words:

“Behold this child is set for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; And thy own soul a sword shall pierce that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.” (Luke 2: 34-35)

These words are intriguing. But they can be understood from the perspective of Mary's unique motherhood. What mother does not know her child so well that even those things that seem otherwise hidden, are not hidden to her?

As children, we were amazed by this in our mothers. We would exclaim: “How did she know that? Does she have eyes in the back of her head?” Actually no. But mothers have eyes at the center of their hearts. Love gives one a vision into things that are otherwise concealed. And that love encourages us, like no other, to remedy any evil or disorder in our hearts. With great solicitude, a mother knows us as we are and draws us to become all we’re meant to be.

There is some interesting scientific research that gives support to this even on a biological level. At a congress entitled: “At the Dawn of Human Life,” organized by the Institute of Gynecology and Obstetrics of the Catholic University of Rome, during the Jubilee year 2000, Professor Salvatore Mancuso, head of the Gynecology Institute, presented some fascinating findings. The research gave proof that beginning in the fifth week of gestation,

“…when a woman realizes she is pregnant, an infinite number of messages pass from the embryo to the mother, through chemical substances like hormones, neurotransmitters, etc….and the embryo sends stem cells that colonize the maternal medulla and adhere to it. Lymphocytes are born from here and remain with the woman for the rest of her life.” Mancuso stated: “From the fifth week there is clearly a passing of cells, but messages begin at conception. Even during the first phases of cellular subdivision, when the embryo is moving in the fallopian tubes, there are transmissions through contact with the tissues touched by the moving embryo. Later, after implantation in the uterus, the dialogue is more intense through the blood and cells, and chemical substances that enter the mother’s bloodstream. Finally, the child’s stem cells pass to the mother in great quantity both at the moment of birth, whether spontaneous or Caesarean, as well as at the time of abortion whether spontaneous or voluntary.”

When asked how long the fetus’ influence on the mother lasts, the professor answered: “Stem cells have been found in the mother even 30 years after the birth. It could be said, therefore, that the pregnancy does not last the 40 canonical weeks, but the woman’s entire life. It is somewhat as though the thoughts of the child pass to the mother, even many years after his birth.”

This is what Simeon’s prophecy is about, though in a spiritual sense. It is a prophecy of the universal motherhood that will be given to Mary in the agony of Calvary. As a mother knows everything about her children, and suffers not only for, but with her children, Mary, in an extraordinary way, was so one with Jesus in His sufferings and death that she is rightly called Co-Redemptrix. As her soul was mystically being pierced on Calvary, Jesus opened up a place large enough within her, to take on a universal motherhood for all of us.

In one way, Mary’s sorrows flowed from the sufferings of her innocent Divine Son. In another, they flowed from her maternal union with us and our indifference and ingratitude toward God's unfathomable love for us. Her distress over those children who reject their Father's love keeps her always at work and in intercession for the restoration of this relationship. She is near us always, helping us in all adversity, affliction, heartache and difficulty.

St. Pope John Paul II puts it beautifully this way: “Mary Most Holy goes on being the loving consoler of those touched by the many physical and moral sorrows which afflict and torment humanity. She knows our sorrows and pains because she too suffered, from Bethlehem to Calvary…Mary is our Spiritual Mother, and the mother always understands her children and consoles them in their troubles. Then, she has that specific mission to love us, received from Jesus on the Cross, to love us only and always, so as to save us! Mary consoles us above all by pointing out the Crucified One and Paradise to us!” (1980)

Mary continues to mother us from the death of sin into the Risen Life of Christ, laboring to bring us to true holiness, so that we can be born into eternal life and everlasting happiness. When we are all safely home, it is then, as the best of Mothers, that her joy will be complete.