We all know (at least, we all should) that true spiritual joy comes from the theological virtues of faith (Acts 16:34), hope (Romans 12:12), and love/charity (Romans 5:5 and Romans 14:17). But by their very definitions, these virtues produce also sorrow, for by faith we have to believe in things unperceivable (1 Cor 13:12); by hope we still do not have the things we want; and by love, not only by those previous two we do not perceive and fully possess what we love most, which is God (2 Cor 5:6), but we cannot even follow always the Two Great Commandments of Love (Matthew 22:36-40), never mind the New Commandment (John 13:34).
Joy and sorrow, therefore, are inseparable in this life, like the two lines of a railroad. Whenever we have joy, it is inevitable that we will have sorrow with it too, and the more the joy, the greater the sorrow. But the reverse is also true: the sorrows of this life always,
always, brings joy with it.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” James 1:2-3
To maximize our joy in this world, we must accept our sorrows along with the joys. The more we accept them, the more we will feel complete and whole, and thus the more joy. This is the secret of the cross, and why the saints love so much their crosses. And yet like how the lines of the railroad converge to one in the horizon, when we die sorrow and joy will converge and one will go away and the other will remain.
We must, however, remember what joy is. Joy is
not a mere emotion. St Thomas Aquinas wrote as much: “And accordingly in the intellectual appetite or will there is that delight which is called joy, but not bodily delight” (
ST, I-II, Q. 31, A. 4). He then quotes St. Augustine of Hippo who wrote:
For what are desire and joy but a volition of consent to the things we wish?..But when consent takes the form of seeking to possess the things we wish, this is called desire; and when consent takes the form of enjoying the things we wish, this is called joy. (
City of God, Book XIV, Chapter 6)
Joy therefore just not “happens”; that is happiness (“happen” and “happiness” have the same root word). Happiness is effortless, but fickle. Joy is hard work by God’s grace (“Rejoice in the Lord always,” Philippians 4:4), but invincible (“Your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one takes from you,” John 16:22).
Joy is mandatory for Christians (1 Thess. 5:16–18), because it is their strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Indeed, as St Thomas Aquinas wrote, “Anyone who desires to make progress must have spiritual joy” (
Commentary on the Epistle to the Philippians, 153). And he makes this ominous warning to those who do not find spiritual joy:
“Man cannot live without joy. That is why one deprived of spiritual joys goes over to carnal pleasures.” (ST, II-II, Q.35, A. 4, Ad. 2, Gilby Translation)
