A CHRISTIAN’S JOY
The faith arguments for Christ’s resurrection are the appearances of Jesus to the disciples. For many believers, a most convincing argument is the incredible change that took place in Jesus’s disciples: before the resurrection, they were very sad and scared; after the resurrection, they became incredibly courageous and joyful, that is, Easter People. How about us who also believe in Christ’s resurrection and ours, in Easter?
What is Easter? Easter means “to live from the resurrection” (Bonhoeffer), to live our life with courage and gladness. Truly, Easter is joy (“Happy Easte r”), a joy that - as Jesus told the apostles at the Last Supper - “no one will take from you” (Jn 16:22). On the glorious day of the Resurrection of Christ, and thereafter, all rejoice.
We imagine the two disciples of Jesus on their way back to Emmaus from Jerusalem: Jesus had died; they are deeply sad. They had a reason to be sad: they believed Jesus was dead. Therefore, the end of the story. Period. What is bad is that those who believe that Jesus rose from the dead are sad (J. L. Martin Descalzo). “There is little use telling people that Christ will bring them joy …, if our own lives are gloomy” (W. Barclay, In Jn 4:43-45). “It is impossible to be sad in the presence of the Risen Lord” (Schillebeeckx). No wonder, the monk and theologian Evagrius Ponticus (4th century), following the Desert Fathers, added, to the traditional seven capital sins, the eighth capital sin, that is, sadness, which is the contrary of joy.
We all know that the core of Jesus’ preaching is the Sermon on the Mount, and the heart of the Sermon, the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are “eight forms of happiness” (J. M. Cabodevilla). Some love to add a ninth beatitude for us: “Happy are those, Jesus says to Thomas, who have not seen, and yet have come to believe” (Jn 20:29).
Mary and the disciples of Jesus rejoiced when they saw the Lord (Jn 20-20). The community of the first disciples rejoiced! The converts by Paul and Barnabas “were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52). After baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch, Philip was snatched away by the Spirit and disappeared, “but the eunuch continued on his way rejoicing” (Ac 8:38-39). The jailer of Paul and Silas in Philippi rejoiced with his whole household after having received the gift of faith in God (cf. Acts, 16:33-34).
Following the apostles, the disciples of Jesus through the ages believe in Christ’s resurrection, which is pure joy: Joy to the world; joy to you and me. All the saints are joyful: “the greatest of their gifts was their smile.” Thanks be to God, because we believe in the resurrection of the Lord. We are - we ought to be - joyful: joy is “the daughter of happiness” (Fray Luis de Granada); and the smile, an expression of joy - like the Alleluia
How did the first Christian communities experience Christ’s Resurrection? The first Christian communities celebrated the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus through one whole night and the dawn of the following day. We are told that many nonbelievers were waiting for them in front of the place where the Christians celebrated the long Vigil and Easter Day. What for? To see the radiant expression - the joy - in the faces of the Christians. In fact, their boundless joy, St. Augustine tells us, their boundless joy converted many unbelievers to the Risen Lord.
We are God’s creatures, and God’s Creation rejoices: “The hillsides are wrapped in joy, the meadows are covered with flocks, the valleys clothed with wheat; they shout and sing for joy” (Ps 65: 12-13). Yes, Isaiah chanted, “the Lord is my salvation… Sing praises to the Lord… Sing for joy” (Is 12:2, 5-6). The prophet cried out to God: “Though the tree does not blossom…; though the flock is cut off from the fold…, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will exult in the God of my salvation” (Hab 3:17-18)
How may we, believers in the Risen Lord, not be joyful? Joy, or true satisfaction and delight, is a quality in the lives of good people, of believers, in particular of authentic Christians. We believe that God is One and Triune, one God only and three divine persons: God the Father is our creator and power; God the Son, is our savior and redeemer (of the whole humanity), and God the Holy Spirit, our grace and advocate. Joy is one of the fruits and blessings of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22). “No one is as happy as an authentic Christian” (Pascal). This is the reason why some of our brothers and sisters add to the Ten Commandments, the eleventh commandment: “Be joyful.”
What is the main cause of Christian joy? God’s love: God loves us. In spite of our sins, God the Father loves us, God the Son heals us, and God the Holy Spirit strengthens us with divine grace and joy (cf. Lk 15:10). True love or charity – a share of God’s love in us - is the main source of real happiness and joy. Indeed charity – or love of God and of all neighbors - causes real joy, an effect of charity withy peace and compassion. Charity is rooted in grace, which is a limited but real participation in God’s divinity.
But, a difficult but: how may we be joyful when suffering comes to hurt us? Suffering is part of our life: we all “carry the wounds of Christ”; we all carry our own personal cross. But suffering is not directly opposed to joy (someone said that the opposite of joy is resentment). This is also true today: we denounce evil, but we are joyful, in spite of the terrible pandemic of the Covid-19 and the miserable wars (that we denounce) – and of our saddening tears. Disordered or not well integrated suffering does wound the lovely virtue or good habit of joyfulness or gladness. The key word that gives meaning to our life and makes it joyful is love. And love, which is patient, can make suffering bearable, light, and even joyful, although this is less common as the Saint of Ávila tells us. Disciples of Jesus through the centuries, when persecuted and martyred, were and are “full of joy” (Acts 5:41).
In our life, joy and suffering are mixed. In the life of St. Dominic, for instance, his tears of joy and of suffering are mingled, but he always had spiritual joy. The way of the cross is the path to our resurrection: there is no Easter Sunday without Good Friday. Like Christ’s, our cross is a victorious cross. Jesus’ death on the cross was “a death of reconciliation and love, a death that leads to the resurrection and to life.” In a similar way. “The Christian does not die to stay dead, but to rise. Death does not have the last word” (José Antonio Pagola, Jesucristo). Love has the last word.
We are pilgrims on the way to our resurrection. Our life is a journey of faithful, loving and joyful hope towards our Father’s home. St. Paul encourages us: Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer” (Rom 12:12). And faith, love and hope pray. We pray that at the end of our journey, Jesus will tell us, to you and to me: Come, share your master’s joy (Mt 25:21-23).
How wonderful! Indeed, how amazing! We are Easter People and Alleluia is our song Alleluia, that is, praise the Lord!