To Grow Up, Grow Down!
Joy the Sparkle of Life
Photo By: Flickr/Raminta Simkute
In a dignified church worship of ”God’s frozen people” an exuberant lady shouted, “Praise the Lord!”
An usher tried to quell her enthusiasm. “You can’t have outbursts like in that in this church,” he protested.
“I can’t suppress my joy since I found the Lord!” the woman explained.
“If you found the Lord,” stated the usher, “you didn't find him here.”
When I heard this rib-tickling story, I couldn't help but think of the words of lsaiah 49:13: "Shout for joy... rejoice O earth... for the Lord comforts his people." The story even made the words of Jesus take on new meaning for me, "No one will take away your joy" (Jn 16:22). Only for those who have truly "found the Lord" can there be true, lasting spiritual joy, as distinguished from worldly joy or mirth. Spiritual joy is like the Bethlehem star, worldly joy like a passing meteor. The former is like a floodlight, the latter like a quick-burning match flame.
The French writer Leon Bloy expressed a maxim when he observed: "Spiritual joy is an infallible sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the soul." This is logical, since it is an outcropping of the first fruit of the Spirit, love (see Galatians 5:22). Joy is love exulting, someone has said. And where true love exists, so does true joy. Peter refers to this combination: "You love him, even though you do not see him... and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy" (1 Pt 1:8). John repeats Jesus' promise about the effects of loving him: "Abide in my love, so that my joy may in you" (Jn 15:10). Indeed, how could anyone be joyless while experiencing this mutual union with God?
The Greek word for joy that is used in the New Testament is chara; it can connote cheerfulness, gladness, exuberance or overflow, or calm delight. It appears sixty times in the New Testament alone, while the word for "rejoice" appears seventy-two times. The frequency of these words in Scripture suggests the importance of joy as a fruit of the Spirit. But why joyful? We will explore this question in future articles.
This excerpt is from the book The Art of Loving God by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications, 1995. This and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.
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About the Author
The Rev. John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., ordained as a Catholic priest in 1952, is a member of the Claretian Missionaries, and is founder and director of the Claretian Teaching Ministry. Listed in Who’s Who in Religion in America, he has served as parish priest, seminary professor and rector, college professor, lecturer, magazine writer, newspaper columnist, editor, retreat master, hospital chaplain, prison chaplain, campus chaplain, Cursillo director and director of suicide prevention programs in Texas and California.
He earned degrees in philosophy from Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles and from Notre Dame University, with postgraduate work at the University of Southern California and the Dominican House of Studies in River Forest, Illinois, in ascetical and mystical theology.
Find his many books and audio/visual recordings at www.Catholicbooks.net
