Happy Joyful Catholics?

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blackforest said:
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chessnerd321:
That said, the sober confrontation of life’s sufferings in the Catholic Church continue to encourage me.
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Balance is important.
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Or, to paraphrase Ron Weasley, “you gotta suffer, but you gotta be happy about it.”
 
People express happiness in different ways. You can express dissatisfaction and concern about things and still be happy. What can get a bit irritating at times is when people are expected to conform to other people’s expectations of how a happy or joyous person should behave.
 
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If Christianity does not know how to accept and deal with sorrow and sadness (other than comanding the sad to rejoice) then Christianity is truly comatose. Dead we can ever be. We have received the Gift of Baptism. Do we judge, do we truly get to judge those unconvinced by us, those in despair, those amongst us scared and sorrowful? Do we?
 
Brendan_64 said:
You can express dissatisfaction and concern about things and still be very happy. What can get a bit irritating at times is when people are expected to conform to other people’s expectations of how a happy or joyous person should behave.
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It’s a little hard for me to see people as being “still very happy” when they are posting and saying that they are sad, depressed, angry, losing their faith. They may be happy with their family or their job or whatever but unless they are lying, they are not happy with their faith.

I don’t have any expectations for how people should behave, except that i get tired of seeing an endless parade of complaints and people threatening to leave the Church or going on like the Church will cease to exist tomorrow. There’s a difference between having a concern and working to address it, and just acting like Eeyore or Chicken Little all the time. And I think most people reading my post understand that’s what I’m getting at. I want to see and meet people who find some joy and peace in their faith even while they are being concerned about protecting children, maintaining tradition or what not. I don’t want to meet people putting on a fake happy-clappy persona.
 
Mary888 said:
If Christianity does not know how to accept and deal with sorrow and sadness (other than comanding the sad to rejoice) then Christianity is truly comatose. Dead we can ever be. We have received the Gift of Baptism. Do we judge, do we truly get to judge those unconvinced by us, those in despair, those amongst us scared and sorrowful? Do we?
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This isn’t about “judging the sad”. The Responsorial Psalm for today’s Mass says, “Come with joy into the presence of the Lord” and talks about “singing joyfully unto the Lord”. Is that a judgment on sad people, or is it an honest expression that we should take joy in the Lord? Sure, there are going to be times when somebody just died or lost a job or got a bad medical diagnosis or had their house knocked down by a tornado and are going to be understandably sad… That’s different from going around acting like a sad sack like your religion is a burden all the time.
 
I am happiest when I leave the confessional and when I am in line waiting to receive the sacrament. True joy!
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I just don’t see the point though.
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Venting maybe. Also, people feel comfortable on the internet. And when a person feels comfortable it’s easier to complain. Especially if you think you’ll get a response. I mean, no one is logging into “Fans of 90210” so they can complain about Cardinal so and so.

I also think that many people today have an unhealthy sense of how to express themselves. So they simply indulge in whining without realizing that what they’re doing is unhealthy. Imo, it’s partly a result of the last couple generations abandoning critical thinking in favor of emotional thinking.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
That’s different from going around acting like a sad sack like your religion is a burden all the time.
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I don’t know what is going around the lives of those who come here and complain mainly or only on religious things. Like…I really don’t.
Maybe the falls of the clergy today are ON TOP of what else is going wrong in their lives. Or maybe not. But to hear that a bishop or a priest raped a child is sure to make one sad no matter what the Scripture or the Psalm of the day is.
 
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Mary888 said:
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Tis_Bearself:
That’s different from going around acting like a sad sack like your religion is a burden all the time.
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I don’t know what is going around the lives of those who come here and complain mainly or only on religious things. Like…I really don’t.
Maybe the falls of the clergy today are ON TOP of what else is going wrong in their lives. Or maybe not. But to hear that a bishop or a priest raped a child is sure to make one sad no matter what the Scripture or the Psalm of the day is.
Have you ever been raped?
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Where in the world is this coming from? Nobody’s saying you can never be sad. Your question is inappropriate and not particularly relevant.
 
No one is telling people how to act. I asked where one meets happy, joyous Catholics these days. Several people responded constructively or thoughtfully. I feel like you haven’t even read the thread and just decided to complain about it. Which in a way proves my point.
 
I really enjoy Casual Conversation in the category section and then move onto Post a Cartoon Please. Some of those cartoons are very humorous. When things get too depressing or mundane in the forum, I move to lighter topics. You all might like to check Casual Conversations, (post a Cartoon) might give you a laugh or two.
 
I flagged your post because “Have you ever been raped?” is a grossly inappropriate question to ask anyone in any context. Whether a person was or wasnt, you putting them on the spot to share that or “justify” themselves is wrong and rude.
 
i find life a deeply curious mixture of the tragic and the joyful. Of course many of us meditate daily on the passion of Christ and his pain and sorrow, and we see all around us people misguided and sinful and it is impossible not to mourn for them, as well as lament our own sins and failings. On the other hand, the crucifixion led to the happiest event ever–our salvation, and Jesus “ran” with joy and love to his passion to save us. It seems like every day I experience moments of great joy and moments of deep sorrow, and the two go hand in hand in our faith. Of course we are also subject to our emotional states, and a capacity for lightheartedness or for anxiety can be part of our genetic makeup as well as our nurture.
 
Mourning and weeping in this valley of tears… I’m realistic and for a lot of people they don’t have good marriages and happy family life. Life can be very lonely. Which St. Mother Teresa saw as being “life’s greatest poverty.” But there is hope in the suffering.
 
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