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The Source of Lasting Joy

by Dr. Eduardo Echeverria

At the heart of the Holy Father's high-spirited exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel, is an invitation to allow our hearts to be transformed by grace and the gladness it brings.

Why the emphasis on believing in joy in Pope Francis' writings, even his pre-papal writings? From his first Palm Sunday homily to his first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), released in November, a major theme runs throughout them all. That theme is well expressed in the opening lines of the exhortation:

"The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness.

"With Christ joy is constantly born anew."

Formed by Paul VI

But why does Pope Francis emphasize joy rather than some other fruit of knowing Christ? Of course, the emphasis is biblically founded. We hear Jesus proclaiming a Gospel of Joy:

"I have said these things [about abiding in the Father's love when we keep his commandments] so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (Jn 15:11; see also Jn 17:13).

Still, why emphasize believing in joy rather than faith, hope, or charity? Well, clearly Francis picks up a theme to which Pope Paul VI devoted his 1975 apostolic exhortation, Gaudete in Domino (Joy in the Lord). Of the previous popes in recent history, Paul VI is a mentor of Francis who has shaped his mind and heart, and whom Francis cites in his writings most frequently.

No Forbidden Trees

More than forty years ago, the future Pope Benedict XVI, then Joseph Ratzinger, gave the answer to this question by suggesting one reason, more than any other, why so many unbelievers are put off from the Christian faith.

"The most telling refutation of what Christianity claims to be, wrote Ratzinger, is this feeling that Christianity is opposed to joy, this impression of punctiliousness [showing great attention to correct behavior] and unhappiness."

Furthermore, he adds, Christians are perceived to be obsessed with the fourth [parental authority] and sixth commandments [sexual morality] that the resultant complex with regard to authority and purity renders the individual so incapable of free self-development that his selflessness degenerates into a loss of self and a denial of love, and his faith leads, not to freedom but to rigidity and an absence of freedom.

Of course, this alleged malady Ratzinger describes is Hollywood's exaggerated version of the Christian life. Ratzinger concludes, It is surely a more likely explanation of why people leave the Church than are any of the [intellectual challenges or] problems the faith may pose today.

Yet, Ratzinger quickly responds by stating that the dangers today for the culture seem to be not scrupulosity (moralism) but laxity, not legalism but antinomianism (lawlessness), not a lack of freedom but license (anything goes), since, he correctly notes, there are no longer any forbidden trees (alluding to Genesis 3:1-7)

Where Is There Hope?

We seem to be living in a time when there are those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Is 5:20). In this biblical light, Ratzinger asks whether mankind has become any healthier. Those who have eyes to see must conclude that it seems not.

Thus, he observes, morality, wrongly understood, and immorality seem to enslave man, to make him joyless and empty. Is there, in the last analysis, no hope for him?

In response to this question, Pope Francis proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ to those afflicted with the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. But he proclaims the gospel anew also to those who are trapped in a mere theology of condemnationtelling others merely what is false and what they may not doturning, Francis says, Christian morality [into] a form of stoicism, or self-denial, or merely . . . a catalogue of sins and faults.

These people look like those who have just come back from a funeral! How, then, are we to live a dignified, fulfilled, and yes, a joyful life?

JoyA Gift of the Spirit

Francis' answer to this question echoes the words of the epigraph to Paul VI's Gaudete in Domino: Rejoice in the Lord always; the Lord is near to all who call upon him in truth (Phil 4:4; Ps 145:18). Man has been created by God and for God to exist in an intimate bond of fellowship. This means that he has been made with the capacity of knowing and loving God.

As Pope Paul writes, God disposes the mind and heart of His creatures to meet joy, at the same time as truth.

Still, sin has savagely wounded man such that this disposition has been disoriented. Man set himself against God and sought to find fulfillment apart from God, the Second Vatican Council states. For sin has diminished man, blocking his path to fulfillment.

The gospel proclamation is that this wounded condition is not God's will for us. Instead, says Francis, We become fully human when . . . we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being. The source of this fulfillment flows from the infinite love of God, who has revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ.

It is in knowing and loving Christ that we find joy.

What, then, is joy?

Source of All Wellbeing

Entering into the joy of the Lord is one of several expressions the New Testament uses to describe the beatitude to which God calls man. This believing in joy is a fruit of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our life. Thus, spiritual joy is a gift of God's grace, a sign of the abiding presence of Christ, of a fundamental peace that man truly enters into by knowing and loving God, by turning away from sin, and by embracing the redemptive purpose of the cross.

Francis states, The Gospel, radiant with the glory of Christ's cross, constantly invites us to rejoice. He then asks, Why should we not also enter into this great stream of joy? Of course, Without doubt flesh and blood' [Mt16:17] are incapable of this. But Revelation can open up this possibility and grace can bring about this return.

Put differently, this fundamental peace is about human flourishing in all its dimensions: foremost in and with our relationship to God, but then with our fellow human beings, to nature, and, last but not least, an interior flourishing that flows from self-knowledge. As Pope Francis puts it, The sign of this unity and reconciliation of all things in him is peace. Christ is our peace' (Eph 2:14) . . . by making peace through the blood of his cross' (Col 1:20).

Furthermore, since essential to human flourishing is our relationship with God, the transforming power of the gospel impels us to communicate the truth about God and humanity to the world, urging us to respond to the God of love and mercy who saves us in and through Christ's cross, to see God in others and to go forth from ourselves to seek the good of others.

But to seek the good of others can only mean, first, that man be fully revealed to himself in relation to God. The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. . . . Christ . . . by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to himself and makes his supreme calling clear, the Second Vatican Council states.

Our joy in the Lordin Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and the Lifeshould then generate missionary enthusiasm.

Called to be Spirit-filled Evangelizers

When the joy of the Lord takes root in our life, then we are impelled by that joy to share the truth of the gospel with others. We share the gospel because it is the truth of human existence. Thus, The Gospel joy which enlivens the community of disciples is a missionary joy.

Furthermore, Francis adds,

Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who was has truly experienced God's saving love . . . is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are disciples' and missionaries, but rather that we are always missionary disciples.

Moreover, "When the Church summons Christians to take up the task of evangelization, she is simply pointing to the source of authentic personal fulfillment.

This is the culminating message of The Joy of the Gospel as expressed in its inspiring closing chapter, Spirit-filled Evangelizers. The gospel is the source of personal fulfillment for all men. Indeed, in this light, we can understand the missionary nature of man.

Francis writes, My mission of being in the heart of the people is not just a part of my life or a badge I can take off; it is not an extra' or just another moment in life. Instead, it is something I cannot uproot from my being without destroying my very self.

I am a mission on this earth; that is the reason why I am here in this world.

This mission spirit, Francis explains, is the spirit of the new evangelization.

Am I Fit for Spiritual Warfare?

Do we know who we are? Have we responded to the challenge of a missionary spirituality? Are we actively engaged in evangelization?

When we respond in faith to the calling that we have received in Christ, we come to understand that the Lord has sent us into spiritual combatto engage for Christ's sake in the renewal of the whole of life, including the spectrum of culture.

What is at stake in this spiritual warfare?, Francis asks. At stake is nothing less, he answers, than war waged against the enemy of human nature-which is sin, separating us from Godby Christ, the Friend of human nature.

To be fit for spiritual warfare, we need to put on the whole armor of God, says St. Paul, in order to resist temptation and stand our ground in the Lord (Eph 6:10-13). And God's most powerful weapon is the Cross. It is with the Cross of Jesus Christ that sin, death, and the Devil suffered defeat once and for all.

True joy is forged, concludes Francis, in the cross.


Secret of the Moral Life

The Church's moral teaching is an integral part of her evangelizing mission. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the way of Christ leads to life'; a contrary way leads to destruction.' This is the context in which we should see the importance of moral decisions for our salvation.

Authentic self-fulfillment is not opposed to the demands of the moral lifemoral precepts to respect our parents, prohibiting adultery, lying, and much more; practicing virtues such as justice, temperance, and fortitude; and affirming the objective goods of life, marriage, truth. Such precepts, virtues, and goods are inherent to realizing the purpose of human life.

In sum, we are called by the gospel to make moral choices that are worthy of the calling that we have received in Christ. We cannot separate moral choices from knowing and loving God.

Pope Francis puts it this way. We must relate the Church's moral teaching to the harmonious totality of the Christian message; in this context all of the [moral] truths illumine one another. When preaching is faithful to the Gospel, the centrality of certain truths is evident and it becomes clear that Christian morality is not a form of stoicism, or self-denial, or . . . a catalogue of sins and faults.

The moral life isn't a straightjacket constricting us from realizing a meaningful life; rather, it is about authentic self-fulfillment. It also isn't merely about cataloging sinsalthough it is important to know what actions are sinful, preventing us from fulfilling the central commandment of love: loving the Lord above all things, with our whole mind, soul, and strength, and loving our neighbor

as ourselves.

Dr. Eduardo Echeverria

Dr. Eduardo Echeverria is professor of philosophy and theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary

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Sacred Heart Major Seminary is a Christ-centered Catholic community of faith and higher learning committed to forming leaders who will proclaim the good news of Christ to the people of our time. As a leading center of the New Evangelization, Sacred Heart serves the needs of the Archdiocese of Detroit and contributes to the mission of the universal Church.