Have We Lost Joy?

[TimothyH]

Have we lost the idea of joy?

*I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance. (2 Timothy 4:7-8) *

Paul had great confidence in his salvation. Isn’t our membership in God’s Church, access to the sacraments and the Eucharist, and the great advantage we have a reason for joy?

Jesus prayed that his joy would be fulfilled in us.

*But now I am coming to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. (John 17:13) *

Peter the Pope was a man of great joy.

Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. (1 Peter 1:8)

Maybe I have a narrow view of these forums but it seems that Catholicism here is viewed as a life of pennance, eternal lent. The monks I know fast Tuesday and Friday, are men of great austerity, yet they are men of great joy and peace.

I have seen bumper stickers, oblique stabs at Catholicism which read, “Chstianity is a journey, not a guilt trip.” Are they right?

-Tim-

 

[Christy_Beth]

To some point, maybe. I don’t remember there being much said about joyful sacrifice. Then again, in some Protestant churches there is the same problem. Sometimes I listen to the homily and ask myself, “what has that got to do with the reading?” In my parish, it has fallen almost to a “turf war.” Why? Because a few years ago two parishes were combined due to lose of parishoners. The lose was attributed to the opening of a new church in the north part of town. These two churches are exactly combining willingly. It has become one big mess. But I think it should be said that we haven’t really been faced with the cold hard facts. We need to stop sniping at each other and start working towards unity. Not just within my parish, but in the Church as a whole. Joyful giving. What else is there?

 

[opus101]

In real life I’m a stand-up comic.
The reason why I’m sometimes quite serious here is because I’m sitting down.

 

[opus101]

Seriously, I bet a lot of us show our more serious sides here because the topics are near and dear to our hearts, and we feel passionately about them.

In our everyday lives, offline, we just might be singing and smiling all day! After all, these topics generally don’t come up in our time outside of church-related things.

 

[opus101]

Mother Teresa said “joy attracts”. I firmly believe this. With everything the Church has been through in the past few decades, it is a fantastic witness to the faith to be joyful. We have to remember that Christ has already triumphed, and that it is a joy to suffer for the Name.

 

[the_phoenix]

Awhile ago here at CAF
I posted a link to a YouTube video
of me dancing at a Star Trek convention
in costume.

Joyful
or maybe just
silly.

:dancing: :extrahappy: :dancing: :egyptian:

Either way …

 

[Diana_Catherine]

Seriously, I bet a lot of us show our more serious sides here because the topics are near and dear to our hearts, and we feel passionately about them.

In our everyday lives, offline, we just might be singing and smiling all day! After all, these topics generally don’t come up in our time outside of church-related things.

I totally agree with this. I think people come here looking for answers to questions that are deep and they are needing answers to help them on their spiritual journey to God, so that could be why it looks as if there isn’t a lot of joy but seriousness.

Mother Teresa said “joy attracts”. I firmly believe this. With everything the Church has been through in the past few decades, it is a fantastic witness to the faith to be joyful. We have to remember that Christ has already triumphed, and that it is a joy to suffer for the Name.

Oh yeah, so true.