Good morning, Digital Neighbors!   Happy Thursday my friends! Joy as a gift, a fruit and choice keeps our focus on joy as something related to happiness but distinct from it.   Happiness is grounded in happenings. The good and wonderful experiences and events of life bring us happiness.  Happiness and joy often coexist and overlap. I know I expressed these ideas earlier in Easter, but it is always helpful to return to the fundamentals of our understanding to deepen and strengthen them.

Joy is the gift of the Holy Spirit bearing fruit from our awareness of God’s profound love for us and the giftedness of our entire life. God owes us nothing, God has held nothing back from us (the lie of the Serpent to Adam & Eve), life is a gift (the greatest) faith is a gift, (the capstone of life and its fulfillment) the promise of eternal life is a gift. (the one yet to be fulfilled in us as we strive to make our lives an offering back to God) Three unmerited gifts that should fuel our attitude of gratitude.

God could compel us completely and we would be happy and satisfied.  His will is our ultimate joy, the same joy shared by the angels and saints, but God does not compel, He does not impose. He invites.  He humbly and subtlety knocks on the door of our experience, provides numerous breadcrumbs on the trail and some amazing moments all meant to draw us deeper into His life and love.

Goodness, truth and beauty are the classic crumbs He scatters throughout the world for all his children, those adopted though faith and those waiting for the knock at the door, the whisper at the cave or that moment of surprise that can only be the presence of someone Other working behind the scenes of life’s happenings. He created all, His Son redeemed all, and Their Holy Spirit is waiting to sanctify all. We will never meet an individual that is beyond that reality.  It does not mean we don’t exercise discretion and caution in a world corrupted by sin, but we have hope for the conversion of all.

One of the nuances at Mass is in the Institution narrative:

Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of My blood,

the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

The Chalice will be poured out for MANY, not for ALL.  The previous translation was for ALL, but it was not faithful to the nuance in Latin.  While Christ died for ALL, not ALL will respond (at least we don’t think so) and some will be lost due to unrepentant hearts and prideful wills.   I hope only the Fallen Angels are in Hell, but my awareness of sin makes me doubtful.  I hope all are repentant of their sins when they see God.  I often wonder how different the story of Adam & Eve would have been if they had been honest and repentant on the spot instead of lying and blaming others for their sin. But that necessary sin of Adam won for us so wonderful a Redeemer.  It is something to sing about, and we do on Holy Saturday in a church ablaze with the light of the Resurrection.

Anyway, there is so much to be joyful about in life and we haven’t even touched how much discipleship offers the transformation of all of our experiences into joy.    Have a great day my friends.

Good morning, Digital Neighbors!   Happy Wednesday!  Just a daily reminder of how simple and yet how difficult it can be to keep joy front and center in our hearts.  It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and a choice we must make daily.  It never means we ignore the challenges and difficulties in life, but we choose what we will allow to possess our heart and command our attention. It is one of the real differences between those striving for spiritual maturity and fullness in Christ and those who settle for less.  Those who settle for less will be blown around by their feelings and unexamined impulses. No one can every claim complete self-possession and fullness in Christ (perhaps a saint, but they never would admit it because of humility) but we can strive for better self-discipline, more complete self-mastery, and balanced emotional self-possession.   Happy Wednesday my friends!

Good afternoon Digital Neighbors!  

How about a good prayer for a Tueday afternoon?  Enjoy!

Lord Jesus Christ,
You have told us
in no uncertain terms
what is expected of us
when we say we love You.

You have made it clear
that if we want to serve You,
express our love for You
and give joy to God,
that we shall do it
in our neighbours
wherever we find them,
by meeting their needs.

We will find You in Church
and in the streets;
We will find You
on the bus
and in the train;
We will find You
in the office
and the shop,
in the hospital ward,
in prison,
in places
where we would never think to go.

For every foolish word,
every malicious thought,
and every godless act,
every neglect of human need,
every arrogant assertion
of our own goodness,

Lord, forgive us.
So work in us
that each of us
in our own small way may be a refuge,
a refreshment
and a sure support
for the anxious,
the weary
and the weak;
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

• Alan Gaunt