“Rejoice Always”
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:4-17). With those words St. Paul starts the fourth, and last, chapter in his letter to the Philippians (Greece) as a testament and summary of what Christian life is about. Joy, happiness, is something we all dream of. Everybody wants to be happy; everybody wants to rejoice. More difficult is to understand what causes that joy and how it is possible to rejoice always in this present life.
In classical thought, which coincides quite closely with the common sense of every person, happiness has been placed in the ‘possession of the beloved good’. There is an intrinsic relationship between love, good and happiness. The challenge is, then, to see if this good is attainable, lasting, and worthy of being loved. For our faith, this supreme good of man is not that we have to attain it, but that it has ‘attained’ us. It is about the presence of the risen Lord in my life: “the Lord is near” St. Paul says. For this reason, Easter is a special season for joy: Christ, my supreme joy, is alive for ever.
This joy, however, is not to be identified with cheerfulness all the time as we can see in our daily lives. It is more in the line of what Paul expresses: “the peace of God… will guard your hearts and minds”. This peace we can have in all circumstances of our lives, even in the hardest ones, if we know we are united with Christ. On another passage he shares “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ” (Col 1:24). For the believer, even afflictions are an opportunity for joy, united with Christ.
But, according with the words of St. Paul, it is not enough to find joy for oneself, but this joy is meant to be shared: “your kindness should be known to all”. In that sense, I would like to share a story from St. Bernadette when, just after the last apparition at Lourdes, an atheist (the Count of Broussard) came to visit her, with the intention of catching her in her lies. He was curious about the Virgin’s smile and asked Bernardette: “How did she smile, this beautiful Lady? […] Could you not repeat it for me? I am an unbeliever, and I don’t believe in your apparitions. […]
The child got up very slowly, joined her hands and gave a heavenly smile such as I have never seen on any mortal lips. Her face lit up with a dazzling brilliance of light. She smiled again with her eyes raised heavenwards. I remained motionless before her, convinced that I had seen the Virgin’s smile on the face of the visionary. Since then, I have treasured this heavenly memory in the depths of my soul. I have lost my wife and my two daughters. Yet it seems to me that I am not alone in this world. I live with the Virgin’s smile.”
Blessings,
Fr. Javier Nieva, DCJM
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Previous Letters:
April 21, 2024: I Believe in the resurrection of the body Part II
April 14, 2024: I Believe in the Resurrection of the Body Part 1
April 7, 2024: Rich in Mercy
March 31, 2024: Sine Dominico Non Possumus About Sunday
February 11, 2024: I Was Ill and You Cared For Me
February 4, 2024: Why Evil?
January 28, 2024: Catholic Schools Week
January 21, 2024: Attachments
January 14, 2024: The LORD Shines
January 7, 2024: Epiphany 2024
December 31, 2023: A Family of Families
December 25, 2023: New Beginnings
December 17, 2023: Christmas
December 3, 2023: Watch
November 26, 2023: Be Healed
November 19, 2023: Sealed
November 12, 2023: Religious?