Joy

Joy: "extreme gladness" –The Canadian Oxford Dictionary

Joy: "the delight and satisfaction of the soul in its union with God in Christ" –Cruden’s Concordance of the Hoy Scripture

Joy! What a wonderful word! It is an explosive word, one single syllable trying to express overwhelming feeling.

Throughout the Easter season the response to the reading in the Divine Office has been "The followers of Jesus were filled with joy. Alleluia, alleluia."

What brings about this "extreme gladness?" It seems to me that joy is always a response that draws us out of ourselves. Think of the look on the face of a child playing with a puppy; the shared joy of two persons, long separated, meeting at the airport; the faces of those just baptized at the Easter Vigil.

Joy is like fireworks, a rocket going off, loosed balloons suddenly leaping into the sky.

"And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit."
–Acts 13:52

And the strange thing is, these disciples had just been persecuted by the leading men of the city and forced to leave. Joy does not depend on comfort or apparent success. Paul and Barnabas had been sent packing – but not before they had spread the word of God to the Gentiles. Hence their "delight and satisfaction" that they were "in union with God in Christ."

How can we experience joy in our lives?  My guess would be to start by opening to the world around us in wonder at its beauty and at the goodness of the people we meet, careful not to miss the fireworks and balloons sent by our joy-filled God.

Written by Mary Buckley CSJ