Are*****You******Joyful?******

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The relentless formative pressure of the surrounding culture has taken its toll on many. The information age is something that no other generation in human history has had to contend with. The ability to know not only every evil, but also the effect of every evil act on the face of the earth, as well as the faces and plaintive cries of the victims. A torrential onslaught of negative news and suffering.

A couple of responses to this are to offer more prayer, and to disassociate from the media to some degree - the more the better, as I see it. In my case, discontinuation of TV, newspaper, all but selected magazines, all radio except Catholic, and careful perusal of the web have aided in restoring a sense of joy. Focusing on the next life and less on this life is also wise counsel I have received.

A 10 year nightmare medical resumé involving three cancers and innumerable co-morbidities has actually been a blessing. How else to come to a fuller appreciation for the blessing of each day, each breath? Embracing the Catholic view on suffering has aided immensely. So much so, that if we could roll the calendar back 10 years, I would do it again.

Yet, there are those who will have none of this. Self-pity is a powerful deterrent to faith, hope and love. Ah, but love is the most powerful force on earth and triumphs each and every time it is allowed to.
 
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Joyful? The only way to be joyful in this world is through a self delusional suppression of the extant human condition. Even while feasting upon the joyful expectations of Jesus’s promises the buzzards of human misery and loved ones lost to Satan’s manipulations pick at the bones of our humaneness and charity for even those who would do us harm. Any joy felt for ones present circumstances comes at the expense of forgetting or deliberate suppression of the acknowledgement of others who are in misery. Any joy felt for future expectations of a better existence still comes at the expense of Christ’s suffering sacrifice and the necessity of forgetting those left behind. At best, if our humanity remains intact we can conjure up only what I would call a Joyful sorrow in irony.
 
On my comings and goings I was never aware of anyone monitoring my facial expressions. I try to be a good Catholic, but I don’t not walk around smiling all the time. I do however have joy in my heart when I go to Mass, being a Catholic, being with my children etc…I feel a closeness to Jesus that makes me feel Loved and if that radiates onto others then that is a gift from God which makes me feel joy. God bless you.
 
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anon64350612 said:
When did joyfulness become a requirement for being a good Catholic?
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Jesus said , " I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete… Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."

And as someone has already mentioned , joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit .
 
po18guy said:
Yet, there are those who will have none of this. Self-pity is a powerful deterrent to faith, hope and love.
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While I am very happy that you have benefited spiritually from your experience, we cannot regard everyone who reacts to cancer as being something other than a “blessing” as being mired in self-pity.
 
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What is the difference between joyfulness and happiness? Spirituality
catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=5755 On Christian Joy (Gaudete in Domino) “As you know, our invitation is essentially an appeal to interior renewal and reconciliation in Christ. It is a question of people’s salvation, of their complete happiness. In this time, when throughout the world believers are preparing to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, we invite you to implore from Him the gift of joy. …When he awakens to the world, does not man feel, in addition to the n…
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I know. I get absolutely hammered for having this view. I regularly present this view to other cancer patients, since they are in the same boat. Those outside find great difficulty understanding.
 
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Christ died for our sins. He has given us a valid plan and means to execute that plan to be with him forever. I’m sorry, but what’s NOT to be Joyful about?

So to answer the OP…
I***** Am****** Joyful******
 
Waiwaitwait…are there Joy Police spying on people’s faces at some parishes? Do priests scan your face for outward joy? I’ve never seen this…and hopefully never will.
 
anon64350612 said:
When did joyfulness become a requirement for being a good Catholic? Is anyone else tired of having their facial expression monitored for expressions of “joy”?
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Thanks for putting a smile on my face and making me laugh. 😀
 
In my Ukrainian Catholic Catechism (which I highly recommend for Eastern Catholics), there are “8 deadly sins” (instead of the seven).

The extra one is the lack of joy! 🤭

But of course, what you mean may not be totally equivalent.
 
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I strive to be peaceful, gentle, kind. Am I joyful? I don’t know. I’m told I have a good sense of humor. I think the Psalms help me a lot because some days all is well and some days I am in anguish inside. The Psalms tell us that a fake sense of continual outward joy just doesn’t happen. Jesus was the man of sorrows, and I imagine Our Lady often lived in sorrow.
 
In his collection of mini-essays entitled Minima Moralia, the German philosopher Theodor Adorno spoke about enforced gaiety being one of the clues one is living in a fascist state. Gaiety and jollity are not joy per se, but whenever a complete stranger on the street exhorts me to ‘Smile!’, I am reminded of Adorno’s theory.
 
This is a good post -
I often here the Pastor saying - during his homily -
how people in the pews have dour expressions.
Not me !
I was glad when they said unto me let us go to the house of the Lord ( Psalm quote )

But I do love to see little kids at mass…
They’re joyful…but in a quiet secretive way - lol
Or a baby, at mass, cooing…that sounds so joyful…
Last week though…
I was walking into church…and from the windows…
And all the young Catholic school kids sounded so excited ( school finishing up )

Today - at 5 am - highway gas station food rest area…
A tree was loaded - with sparrows - dusk…
You never heard so much early morning chirping !
You couldn’t see the congregation of birds either because of all the green leaves…
 
kill051 said:
whenever a complete stranger on the street exhorts me to ‘Smile!’, I am reminded of Adorno’s theory.
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You’re in San Jose, right? How often are strangers on the street telling you to smile?? That is so bizarre.
 
anon64350612 said:
When did joyfulness become a requirement for being a good Catholic? Is anyone else tired of having their facial expression monitored for expressions of “joy”?
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What is joy in the context of Christian? You have to explain what does it mean first before we could even saying anything about it.

There are many scriptural references to joy and you have to know what it really means.

Does it mean one has to be gaga to be joyful?
 
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