Joy: An Essential Virtue for Flourishing Communities

As a Young Adult minister who currently works for the Church and whose goal it is to organize events that exhibit a welcoming environment and yield fruitful community, I have been surprised by the number of people who freely invite people to my ministerial events. Usually, as the Catholic stereotype suggests, we often neglect and forget our roles to evangelize and invite people to the abodes of our parishes, which is something our Protestant brothers and sisters exceed at so well.  If you look at the blossoming generation of gen z, there is an uprising, an uptick, a revival in passion for one’s own parish and its ministries. What is making young Catholics so excited? Why is there an increasing number of invitations initiated by Catholics to these Young Adult events? This is not meant to start this article off with ambiguous or cliché questions by any means, but to challenge one to truly think philosophically and ponder the subject. To simplify these questions into one: where does the innate desire to invite others originate? It is by summarizing these questions I think we will find the answer to why Catholic Churches are beginning to expand.

We see the motif of invitation constantly throughout Scripture, especially within the New Testament. The first instance that comes to mind is when Jesus gives the disciples the invitation himself to follow him in John 1. “Two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi, where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’” 

Come and see. It is Jesus who first extends the invite to us to come and experience what he has to offer. Like the disciples, we are invited initially to encounter the Truth and let it transform our lives. Christ invites us to experience him. This personal encounter gives us the first clue to the initial question regarding the origin of our innate desire to invite. It is when we experience something that we perceive as good that compels us to share it with others. 

Later in the Gospel of John, Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well and after he had revealed himself to her, she joyfully bounds to the Samaritan village to share her experience with them. The first words out of her mouth are, “Come and see.” (John 4:29) Like Jesus inviting the disciples to come and see for themselves, the woman––who after experiencing Christ herself––invites others to come, see, and share in that same experience. The Gospel writer seems to display a pattern: Jesus invites us to come, see, and experience, then we are to invite others to do the same as the woman at the well. 

What is the connection between the two passages? We see Jesus first extend the invitation to us, telling us to “Come and see.” Then, like the woman at the well, we are to invite others to come and see Jesus after we experienced the joy of his presence. It is not merely experience that moves us to invite others, but the joy acquired from that experience! Brothers and sisters, joy is the underlying culprit. It is because of joy that we are so inherently compelled to invite others to share in our experiences. It is because of the joy found in Christ through parish community, worship, adoration, and daily Mass that parishes are beginning to not only grow but thrive and flourish! Young Adults are the first to assemple the pieces together. Without knowing, they are becoming catalysts that are launching the Catholic Church into a new age of Hope.

As Catholics, it is our primary objective to bring everyone to the Fullness of Truth i.e., Christ. In order to be that vehicle of transformation for others, possessing joy is an essential component. Without joy, we lack the boldness, excitement, and enthusiasm required to move another’s curiosity to come and see for themselves. Like the woman at the well, Christ uses us as catalysts by helping others in their journey to him, especially since every person carries an internal longing to be loved and welcomed by others. The welcoming, joyous environment that Young Adults naturally convey is responsible for the increasing attendance within parishes. Let us go forth, mirror their passion, and learn what it means to be truly joyful, so that hell is starved because of the overwhelming number of souls that are slipping from Satan’s grasp due to the evangelical calling that each of us are fulfilling by bringing others to the one true Church.