Mary Undoer of Knots

Christ came to bring JOY;

Joy to children, joy to parents,

Joy to families and friends,

Joy to the sick and elderly,

Joy to all humanity.

In a true sense, JOY is the keynote message of Christianity,

And the recurring motif of the Gospels.

Go, therefore, and become Messengers of Joy!

~ Pope John Paul II

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

JOY!

I wish I could express the Joy I have in my heart! I mean, all around me people are suffering terrible things like serious illness, loss of jobs, depression, divorce……but in my heart, at this moment, my cup overflows!

Oh, it is not that I don’t care about the suffering of my friends and clients and family---I LOVE them very much. But this Joy surpasses human condition and present emotion and reaction to events and troubles.

What is this Joy?

An online free dictionary explains it as intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness. But is THAT all this is?

Archbishop Timothy Dolan says, “Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God within.” Oh yeah…yes…yep…..That’s IT!

There are plenty of things I could be complaining about----It’s too hot, my house is a mess, somebody yelled at me, my car broke down, the weeds in the yard are winning, my Mommy is sick, ugh….my Mommy is sick. But does this steal my Joy? No. Not today. Because God’s presence is within me. He lives in me, through me and with me. He is my Beloved, and I am His. This Joy is internal and it is eternal. He has given Himself to me, and I to Him.

Do I always feel so great? Are some days better than others? Of course there are! But that is because of my human weakness and frailty and not because He has done anything wrong. In this relationship, if there is ever a disagreement, I am always wrong, He is always right. Usually, if there is a lack of the feeling of Joy in my soul, it is because I am not including Him, not keeping Him at the center of my life. Always there is sin to cloud things up, but thankfully, confession clears the air and lets me see Him clearly again. He is my Joy, our Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Great News---We Christians can all have this Joy! We only need to surrender ourselves to His grace….To live in His Presence……To give Him every moment of every day, even on days when we have to remind ourselves that we are giving Him every moment of every day. And at the end of the day, we speak to our Beloved, and talk to Him about the times when we turned away from Him, the times when we did not include Him and walked away from His grace. And then simply, we ask Him to help us do better the next day.

Let us try always to give Him our moments! He is our Beloved and He deserves nothing less.

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