On Friday morning a small, quiet town
met evil and the hearts of all in the United States were pierced to
their depths with the pain of another horrendous tragedy. We all
respond differently to such pieces of news: my first reaction was to
be very angry. Slowly that turned to pain, and to tears. Yet in the
midst of this suffering, God has once again in His Providence ordered
things to bring good out of evil. Let us hope
this will draw the hearts of all toward a greater
vigilance against the evil in their own hearts, no matter how small
it may seem. Let us hope it will strengthen us all to
continue with greater perseverance the healing and unity of all
peoples, especially those who are seemingly suffering in silence,
estranged from others.
Today we celebrate particularly the
virtue of hope. Paul is commanding the Philippians to rejoice. This
is not a suggestion, but rather a demand, just as he would demand
they be holy, just, and compassionate to the needy. They must
rejoice, regardless of the circumstances. Paul's emphasis is
certainly connected to the prophet Nehemiah's urging that “rejoicing
in the Lord must be your strength” (Neh. 8:10), as well as
Zephaniah's words of encouragement.
What is joy? Is joy an emotional high
or some other nice feeling? Is joy a lack of pain? Is joy what we
have when everything in life goes as we would want, or as we feel it
should? No, joy must be something bigger than this, since Paul
himself is writing to the Philippians from prison. And from that
shameful and paralyzing experience he sees ever more clearly that
Christians can bear joy quietly, at a deeper level of their soul,
even when their feelings are contrary, even in the midst of deep
pain, even when there is in this life is a tragedy or a disaster.
Joy, essentially, is delight in the
goodness of God's providence that has conquered evil and given
eternal meaning to human suffering, given glory to humanity. Joy is
linked to the Cross and Resurrection of Christ. Joy is remembering
the whole story: that God redeems us, that God is with us. Joy is
the knowledge that the all-powerful God loves us. “The Lord is
near!” is the source of Christian joy. This is why it is possible
for us even now to have joy.
John Paul II says that “In a
Christian's heart, peace is inseparable from joy....When the joy that
is in a Christian heart is poured out on others, it gives them hope
and optimism; it spurns them to be generous in their daily toil and
infects the entire society. My children, only if you have in you
this divine grace which is joy and peace, will you be able to do
anything useful for others.”
Thus
Paul encourages us also to prayer, for prayer is critical for
maintaining this peace that bears joy. St. Bernard of Clairvoux
reminds us that prayer prevents things from robbing us of peace,
since prayer “regulates our affections, directs our actions,
corrects our faults, guides our conduct, gives beauty and order to
our life. Prayer brings with it the knowledge of things divine and
also things human. It determines what we ought to do and reflects on
what we have done, in such a way that prayerful hearts never become
restless or in need of discipline.”
Without prayer, we expose ourselves to worry and anxiety, which can
eat up our joy like a cancer. And the more we live in joy instead of
in worry, the more we will realize that worry in fact always makes
everything we do worse, because it sucks up our strength. Anxiety
makes us to focus on our self-preservation rather than on the good of
others, turning inward rather than outward, thus closing off the
demands of love.
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