Joy is a characteristic that marks the Christian experience. Joy is the first descriptor that people use to describe someone that is holy. In my short time in the parish, many of you have shared stories of some of the legendary members of the parish. The first descriptor used is this person was a person filled with joy. What is really fascinating is that when you learn about the person’s life story, you find that it was not an easy life. Yet, no matter what they did they were filled with joy. For many of us this is the thing that draws us to the Church and to Christ. Pope Francis reminds us of why in his work The Joy of Discipleship. He states the following: “The human heart desires joy. We all desire joy; every family, every people, aspires to happiness. But what is the joy the Christian is called to live out and bear witness to. It is the joy that comes from the closeness of God, from His presence in our life” (78). For Pope Francis, this joy naturally flows from our relationship with Christ. As such, when we come to Mass we ought to ask God to help us grow closer to Him, and to fill us with us joy.
