Catholic Joy vs. the Cross

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Mike1w

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Are Catholics called to be happy? I know the joy of the lord is our strength, but my life doesn’t seem to lend itself to ectstatic happiness. I appreciate what I do have, but it is definitely balanced by carrying a cross of at least as great a magnitude. I don’t want to be a complainer. I just wish I knew how to experience joy, or at least recognize it when I have it.
 
Joy is one of the graces of the Holy Spirit. We are called to joy. It is ok to be happy and joyful and still balance carrying a cross.

An example of this would be someone suffering who still has joy in God and little things like a baby smiling or the scent of jasmine.
 
Mike1w said:
Are Catholics called to be happy? I know the joy of the lord is our strength, but my life doesn’t seem to lend itself to ectstatic happiness. I appreciate what I do have, but it is definitely balanced by carrying a cross of at least as great a magnitude. I don’t want to be a complainer. I just wish I knew how to experience joy, or at least recognize it when I have it.
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John 15
9 As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love: as I also have kept my Father’s commandments and do abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled.
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The cross is real. The cross is our salvation. It is bittersweet to contemplate - but no cross, no resurrection. And, we know the ending.
 
Offer up your cross to the Lord. You can do this with a Morning Offering.

Christ desires your co-redemption. He desires your companionship in times when others are more interested in worldly pursuits.

Be joyful, that the little you bring can be turned into much by Christ.
 
According to the Church, one of God’s most basic desires for man has always been our uncompromised happiness. So much of our misery has to do with sin in this world and our distance from Him. Here are some examples from the catechism.
1718 The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it:

We all want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this proposition, even before it is fully articulated.

How is it, then, that I seek you, Lord? Since in seeking you, my God, I seek a happy life, let me seek you so that my soul may live, for my body draws life from my soul and my soul draws life from you.

God alone satisfies.

2548 Desire for true happiness frees man from his immoderate attachment to the goods of this world so that he can find his fulfillment in the vision and beatitude of God. "The promise [of seeing God] surpasses all beatitude. . . . In Scripture, to see is to possess. . . . Whoever sees God has obtained all the goods of which he can conceive."

45 Man is made to live in communion with God in whom he finds happiness: When I am completely united to you, there will be no more sorrow or trials; entirely full of you, my life will be complete (St. Augustine, Conf . 10, 28, 39: PL 32, 795}.

You can search the catechism for more on this here:
http://ccc.scborromeo.org.master.com/texis/master/search/?sufs=0&q=happiness&xsubmit=Search&s=SS
 
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Mike1w said:
I appreciate what I do have, but it is definitely balanced by carrying a cross of at least as great a magnitude.
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It can help not to regard joy and suffering as strictly opposed but to recognise the seeds of joy as nurtured in suffering. I have come to recognise that so profoundly in my life. Too often you view suffering as an obstacle to your happiness but realise in time that they were actually stepping stones to greater peace, greater understanding and illumination regarding heavenly joy in daily ordinary life.
 
We all have crosses to bear, but I like the Jewish teaching, as I understand it, on happiness:. We have a moral obligation to those around us to be happy.
 
I had a weird experience lately.

After carrying a very heavy cross for a long time that zapped a lot out of me, the situation hit a turning point.

I was profoundly grateful for this grace, but I realized with a strange sense of wistfulness that God and I had grown very close during all the sadness and pain.
I then prayed that I wouldn’t become dissipated and silly from the sudden release of tension. I realized for the first time why the 9 lepers left Jesus and never turned back. They were so relieved from the cessation of their pain they weren’t thinking straight.
 
I know what you mean, I don’t ever feel any happiness either. I suffer from depression and several chronic disorders, and I’m a melancholic so I tend to always see the negative side of things. I always feel lousy. Plus, I’ve lost several members of my family over the last few years and seeing so many others suffering, it really brings me down and leaves me wondering how I could ever feel anything like happiness. I’ve always identified with what Mary told St. Bernadette, that she wouldn’t find happiness in this life but only in the next.

I’m learning to accept that I’ll probably never “feel” joyful but that maybe I do have joy way deep down inside that keeps me praying and hoping. I’ve also learned from the saints and the words of Jesus as quoted by several visionaries like Faustina that feelings are not the most important thing anyway, but only our will and our faith.

I’m glad and grateful for my faith. One thing that has helped me is to create a list of all the things I’m grateful for and I review that list often and express my thanks to God for all those things. The other thing that helps is that I offer up my sufferings throughout the day as often as I think of it. That gives my suffering meaning.

God Bless!
 
All this talk about carrying our crosses: to merely suffer is not the same as carrying one’s cross actively, which means the powerful and radical transformation of otherwise meaningless suffering into an empowered offering of love. Nobody took the Beloved Savior’s life from him; he laid it down willingly. We are only transforming our sufferings into active cross-carrying if we embrace in love the cross’s radical transformative power and the promise of resurrection.
 
tommy37 said:
I’m learning to accept that I’ll probably never “feel” joyful but that maybe I do have joy way deep down inside that keeps me praying and hoping.
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Beware of self fulfilling prophecy syndrome, tommy37. Lots of us go through a phase of resignation that can atrophy faith. It can lead to rejecting the grace of the Holy Spirit as if it has become useless. If you desire to know joy, you will be given that grace, so be open to it at all times!
 
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