[11] - THE JOY OF HAVING JESUS
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Human beings have become more stupid and idiotic than ever.
Yes, you have heard me right – we have become more foolish, stupid
and idiotic than the previous generations.
We are living in a world of joylessness and a long list of
negative feelings of discontent, excitableness, disappointment,
dissatisfaction, displeasure, worry, sadness, trouble, misery,
unhappiness, upset, agitation, discomfort, and etc.
We have become sadder and more hopeless than previous
generations. Having become the most equipped generation ever lived on the face
of the earth, we should have become wiser and more intelligent, sadly the opposite
is true.
We are standing under the hot sun seeking chillness and checking
the fridge for hot coffee.
God’s word through the prophet Isaiah so many thousand years
ago proves right even today.
Isaiah 55
An Invitation to Abundant Life
Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which
is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.
6 Seek
the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain
and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the
earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12 For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
NEHEMIAH 8:10
“The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
We are
reflecting on THE JOY OF
HAVING JESUS in our life.
Joy isn't emotional, in the sense that we commonly think of
joy; rather, it is the state of being undisturbed by the negative things
in life.
12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit
CCC 1832
The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit
forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church
lists twelve of them: Charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity. (Gal
5:22-23 VULG)
“You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.” - St. Augustine of Hippo
Joylessness is restlessness and this restlessness is
Jesus-lessness. This restlessness can be compared to a mother who has lost her
child in a crowd. The longer it gets the greater is the intensity of the restlessness
of the mother.
We are doing what St. Augustine did before his conversion,
seeking for God where He is not.
“Men go abroad to wonder
at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses
of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the
stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.” – Saint Augustine
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/saint-augustine-quotes
"Belatedly I loved thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new,
belatedly I loved thee. For see, thou wast within and I was without, and I
sought thee out there. Unlovely, I rushed heedlessly among the lovely things
thou hast made. Thou wast with me, but I was not with thee. These things kept me
far from thee; even though they were not at all unless they were in thee. Thou
didst call and cry aloud, and didst force open my deafness. Thou didst gleam
and shine, and didst chase away my blindness. Thou didst breathe fragrant odors
and I drew in my breath; and now I pant for thee. I tasted, and now I hunger
and thirst. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for thy peace."
Ecclesiastes 1
1 The words of the
Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, says the
Teacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
3 What do people gain from all the toil
at which they toil under the sun?
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun goes down,
and hurries to the place where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south,
and goes around to the north;
round and round goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
7 All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they continue to flow.
8 All things are wearisome;
more than one can express;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
or the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has already been,
in the ages before us.
11 The people of long ago are not remembered,
nor will there be any remembrance
of people yet to come
by those who come after them.
The Futility of Seeking Wisdom (To know is to increase sorrow.)
12 I, the Teacher, when
king over Israel in Jerusalem, 13 applied my mind to seek and to
search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business
that God has given to human beings to be busy with. 14 I saw all the
deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
15 What is crooked
cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself,
“I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before
me; and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And
I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived
that this also is but a chasing after wind.
18 For in much
wisdom is much vexation,
and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow.
Mary has been the most joyful human person lived on the earth; not because he was rich, intelligent, learned or powerful in the eyes of the world, but because she had Jesus in her womb first and then in her being thereafter. Always she was in constant communion with Him, evena fter giving birth to Him.
St. Augustine too experienced the same. He was surely very
intelligent, must have been powerful. When he was away from Jesus, he was restless
as we have seen earlier. Once he realised the indwelling Jesus, he became
joyful. His powerful writings are still motivations for us to follow his
footsteps.
How can we do it?
Is the same Jesus, who was within Mary and Augustine, within
you?
The Sacraments and the Word of God are means of experiencing
this same Jesus. We encounter the Lord in the Sacraments, rather He encounters
us as it’s His doing.
Guided Meditation:
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
EVANGELII GAUDIUM
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FRANCIS
ON THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL
IN TODAY’S WORLD
1. The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who
encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow,
inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born
anew. In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark
upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new
paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.
I. A joy ever new, a joy which is shared
2. The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as
it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet
covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted
conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own
interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the
poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer
felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real danger for believers
too. Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry and listless. That is no
way to live a dignified and fulfilled life; it is not God’s will for us, nor is
it the life in the Spirit which has its source in the heart of the risen
Christ.
3. I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this
very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an
openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly
each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for
him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”.
Trust and Joy in the Midst of Trouble
17 Though the fig
tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails,
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold,
and there is no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I
will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
and makes me tread upon the heights.
- Do I have joy in my life?
- Where do I search for joy?
- Is Jesus present in my life?
- Do I want to be joyful?
- Am I like Mary or like St. Augustine before his conversion?
- Am I willing to search for joy where I can find it, i.e., in Jesus?
Saint to learn from – St. Augustine
Kindly learn about and from this great saint to find real joy in life.
Biblical verses for reflection:
- Isaiah 55
- Nehemiah 8:10
- Ecclesiastes 1
- Habakkuk 3
The document to study:
Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium of the Holy Father Francis
On the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s
World
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