Joy

Rejoice in the Lord continually! I repeat: Rejoice! Let your meekness be known to all people. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything. But in everything, through prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving, make your requests to God. And God’s peace, which transcends all understanding, will save your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philipp 4,4-7

It is not very easy to talk about joy because we all long for it, and it is the inability to achieve it that fills us with sadness. To rejoice, it is probably best to see that drills cannot achieve growth in companies. Namely, every pressure on yourself, every “you have to” and “try more” distracts us from joy. On the contrary, calming down, surrendering to God, leaving our lives back to the Heavenly Father brings us joy.

Before my eyes, I still have a commemorative discipline about the joy I had as a chaplain on Easter Sunday. I had a discipline of joy ready. But when I saw those bored, sleepy faces of people at Mass at 6:30, I burned with unprecedented anger at the announcement of the good news. After Mass, the churchman greeted me with the words, “Lord Chaplain, you had a beautiful discipline. You just did it – you have to rejoice! – they said as if you were whipping us. ” Yes, joy cannot be forced; it is fruit. It is the fruit of a deep inner union with God. It is the fruit of experience at Christ’s feet.

Let’s try to think about it. Since God called me to life, I can’t be. Whatever I do, I will always want him. He will always think of me; he will always surround me with his presence; he will long for my salvation until I reach it. Isn’t that amazing? He thinks of me personally. Not for humanity, not for the mass of “ants” running around here now in 2020, but for me personally, who is now sitting at a computer, writing catechisms and thinking about what he still has to do before going to spiritual exercises. He thinks of me and says – I don’t need your catechists. I don’t need you to die and save people for people or me. I need you. I want to love you, and I want you to be happy. This is one of the most beautiful and liberating knowledge. Of course, if we don’t experience this in person, we listen to it all the time, then it can fill us with anger. I didn’t ask the world here! Why am I here when life is just torment effort …? The Last time I even listened to the thoughts of a philosopher who said that it is always better not to be than to be because when you are not, you do not know of joy, but also of suffering. But when you are, you can experience both joy and suffering. And when you experience what little suffering, it does not balance any joy. I marvel at how bad it can lead us when we do not seek the presence of God in our lives and try to find a source of joy ourselves.

As the French thinker Leon Bloy wrote, joy is the most reliable sign of God’s presence. Many things in our lives can please us, but joy is never a pleasure. C.S. Lewis said, “Joy is never in our power, enjoyment is. I doubt that anyone who has already experienced it would be able to exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. “Note that our religion goes completely against today’s world:

The world believes that happiness will find immediate sexual gratification, and Christ invites us to purity.
The world believes that without non-commitment, the freedom to do what I want, with whom I want, and as I want, happiness cannot be achieved, and Christ invites obedience.
The world believes that we will achieve happiness if we have, and Christ invites us to poverty.
The world believes that progress can only be made if we are pragmatic and utilitarian, and Christ invites us to waste time in prayer.
The world assumes that everyone should take care of themselves first and their own comfort; Christ invites self-sacrifice to the cross.
The believer somehow subconsciously agrees with every single offer of Christ. Although his wounded nature often rebels against it, he eventually admits that Christ is right. It is incomprehensible, but there is more joy in that purity, poverty, and obedience than anywhere else. And it is the established desire for sex, wealth, and freedom that robs us of the most joy. St. Paul is right. “God’s peace truly transcends all understanding.” (Philipp 4.7)

WHERE am I LOOKING FOR HAPPINESS?
How do I imagine a happy person?
What is the difference between pleasure and happiness?
How do I perceive the challenge of St. Paul: “Do not be anxious about anything”?
How could I apply this challenge in my life?