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| Aragorn laughing in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. |
Last week, Pope Francis issued the Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes (TC), in which all the Faithful who attend the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) were grouped together as those who resist Vatican II (V2) and the Liturgical Reform called for by the Council. There is a small faction of those who do resist V2, but most of us do not. There is a vast difference between V2, which did call for some reform, and those changes made in the "spirit of V2". The former can boast of formulating documents of varying degrees of importance, while the latter in many cases cannot boast of actually following the documents. What we got in the way of reforms was very often tragic, especially in the area of ecumenism.
Nonetheless, my purpose here is to articulate neither a defense of V2 nor an understanding of right reforms, both of which are being done by others more capable than I and more intelligently gifted. What I really want to stress here is the fruit of the Holy Spirit called joy. In these times, joy cannot be underestimated or overstated. It is difficult to find joy when we feel that we have been beaten by the crook of our shepherd or lashed by the pen of one who is our father and yet who does not understand us. Joy is our true patrimony as Christians, and we should not underestimate its power: with joy, we become the bonus odor Christi, the sweet fragrance of Christ through which we attract others to the truth.
Collect for Holy Joy
In the Ordinary Form of the Holy Mass, there is a Collect for the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time, a Collect we would all do well to remember and to pray:
O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
There is an entire Apostolic Exhortation of Pope St. Paul VI devoted to the topic of Christian Joy, called Gaudete in Domino. An entire Apostolic Exhortation! Add to that the section of Pope St. John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Dies Domini in which he discusses the holy joy of Sundays.
Joy in the Scriptures
Here is a list of ten Scriptures with regard to holy joy.
1. "Go, eat fat meats, and drink sweet wine, and send portions to them that have not prepared for themselves: because it is the holy day of the Lord, and be not sad: for the joy of the Lord is our strength" (Nehemiah 8:10, DRB).
Let us not be sad or downcast. Let us rejoice exceedingly in the God who made us, and who has fitted to us this yoke of suffering. This is "the holy day of the Lord", and Satan will do all he can to steal from us the sense of holiness and the joy of the Lord. Satan wants us weak and divided, and we must not give him the opportunity to achieve his nefarious ends.
2. "Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: if I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy" (Psalm 136:6, DRB).
Even though we endure the present affliction, we must make Jerusalem the beginning of our joy. At the TLM, the beauty is such that heaven, the heavenly Jerusalem, bends down and touches earth once again. The beauty of the TLM is the heavenly Jerusalem whence our joy springs forth: it is the beginning of our joy, our joy which should be carried out from Holy Mass into the world in which we live and work.
3. "Then was our mouth filled with gladness; and our tongue with joy. Then shall they say among the Gentiles: the Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord hath done great things for us: we are become joyful." (Psalm 125:2-3, DRB).
The Lord hath done great things for us! Was not Summorum Pontificum a great thing? Was not Ecclesia Dei a great thing? If God has done these great things for us, then we rejoice at what he has done, and we look forward with joy to the full freedom of the TLM once again.
4. "Thy wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of thy house. Thy children as olive plants round about thy table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord." (Psalm 127:3-4, DRB).
The blessing of family for the just man is a source of great joy. It is also true for the Catholic Priest, who is alter Christus, another Christ, because his spouse is the Church, the Bride of Christ, and her children are also his spiritual children.
5. "Hitherto, you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24, RSV-CE).
Let us ask for what is good for us, spiritually and corporally (for we are not pure spirits as are the angels). In the 54-day Rosary Novena, the first half is praying in petition, and the second half is praying in thanksgiving that God has granted our prayer even before it is answered. If we have this attitude of thanksgiving regardless of whether our prayers are answered in the manner we wish them to be, how can joy not exude from our very being?
6. "I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33, RSV-CE).
In the world we have tribulation, but what is most difficult to accept is that much of our tribulation also comes from those who are our shepherds and fathers, because they do not understand us. So be it. God sees all. Let us rejoice in our suffering, knowing that Christ has already overcome and conquered the world.
7. "But the fruit of the Spirit is, charity, joy, peace, patience, [kindness], goodness, longanimity, [gentleness], faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law." (Galations 5:22-23, DRB).
Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us pray for the gifts and the fruits of the Holy Spirit, especially the fruit of joy.
8. "Brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things" (Philippians 4:8, DRB).
"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good" (Luke 6:45), so if we fill our minds and hearts with good things, we will rejoice exceedingly in the good.
9. "You shall draw waters with joy out of the saviour's fountain" (Isaiah 12:3, DRB).
This one is from the Easter Vigil Mass, but this translation reveals that it is at the Savior's fountain that we will draw waters with joy. What is that fountain but His most Sacred Heart, whence flowed blood and water?
10. "And he saw his children's children to the fifth generation. And after he had lived ninety-nine years in the fear of the Lord, with joy they buried him." (Tobit 14:15d-16).
Has anyone heard of burying a beloved man with joy? It is that way for a just and virtuous man, that even when he is gone from us, so much of his wisdom and joy remain with us and in us.
Joy in the Catechism of the Council of Trent
This excerpt is taken from the Catechism of the Council of Trent, and sheds glorious light on what I am trying to convey.
Patience and Joy under Continued Affliction Next we must remember that if by prayers and supplications we are not delivered from evil, we should endure our afflictions with patience, convinced that it is the will of God that we should so endure them. If, therefore, God hear not our prayers, we are not to yield to feelings of peevishness or discontent; we must submit in all things to the divine will and pleasure, regarding as useful and salutary to us that which happens in accordance with the will of God, not that which is agreeable to our own wishes.
Finally, the pious hearers should be admonished that during our mortal career we should be prepared to meet every kind of affliction and calamity, not only with patience, but even with joy. For it is written: All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution; and again: Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God; and further: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so enter into his glory? A servant should not be greater than his master; and as St. Bernard says: Delicate members do not become a head crowned with thorns. The glorious example of Urias challenges our imitation. When urged by David to remain at home, he replied: The ark of God, and Israel, and Juda, dwell in tents; and shall I go into my house?
If to prayer we bring with us these reflections and these dispositions, although surrounded by menaces and encompassed by evils on every side, we shall, like the three children who passed unhurt amidst the flames, be preserved uninjured; or at least, like the Machabees, we shall bear up against adverse fortune with firmness and fortitude.
In the midst of contumelies and tortures we should imitate the blessed Apostles, who, after they had been scourged, rejoiced exceedingly that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for Christ Jesus. Filled with such sentiments, we shall sing in transports of joy: Princes have persecuted me without cause; and my heart hath been in awe of thy words; I will rejoice at thy words, as one that hath found great spoil.
Poetry, the Language of the Heart
I once heard it said that love is the deeds of the heart, but poetry is the language of the heart. We need to make the pursuit of joy not simply an intellectual matter, but a matter of the heart. So without further ado, a poem on joy by John Keble (1792-1866), an Anglican priest and contemporary of St. John Henry Cardinal Newman:
A fragment of a rainbow bright
Through the moist air I see,
All dark and damp on yonder height,
All bright and clear to me.An hour ago the storm was here,
The gleam was far behind;
So will our joys and grief appear,
When earth has ceased to blind.Grief will be joy if on its edge
Fall soft that holiest ray,
Joy will be grief if no faint pledge
Be there of heavenly day.
There are plenty of other poems, but this one contrasts sorrow and joy in a way that we can very much feel deep within ourselves these days. Joy is likened to a rainbow, and sorrow to a storm -- and what a storm we find ourselves in! Nonetheless, we can find some joy within, even if it is like the fragment of a rainbow, not a full rainbow.
Another little quatrain illustrates the importance of joy in Catholic life:
Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,
There’s always laughter and good red wine.
At least I’ve always found it so.
Benedicamus Domino!
It was written by Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953), and it perfectly illustrates the joy we should have as Catholics. That does not mean that we don't feel sadness, but that we choose to act with cheerfulness and joy and affability, as St. Philip Neri would say.
The Patron Saint of Laughter and Joy
St. Philip Neri is the patron saint of laughter and joy. I highly recommend this article about him, from which comes this prayer:
St. Philip, you converted countless souls to a greater love for God by befriending them and treating them with courtesy and kindness. Please pray for us to grow in the virtue of affability and joyfulness, which shone through all your words and actions, so that we, too, may win many souls for Christ. Amen.
Let us strive to live by these quotes of St. Philip Neri:
“Cheerfulness strengthens the heart and makes us persevere in a good life; wherefore the servant of God ought always to be in good spirits.”
“The true way to advance in holy virtues is to persevere in a holy cheerfulness.”
“First let a little love find entrance into their hearts, and the rest will follow."
It is said that at one point, St. Philip cut off half his beard so that he would remember not to take himself too seriously. Imagine a Priest giving a sermon with half a beard -- the laughter that would ensue even from the Priest himself would have been contagious holy joy!
St. Thomas More's Prayers for Good Humor
St. Thomas More also used to pray for good humor, which is one aspect of holy joy.
Lord, grant me a holy heart, that sees always what is fine and pure and is not frightened at the sight of sin, but creates order wherever it goes. Grant me a heart that knows nothing of boredom, weeping, or sighing. Let me not be too concerned with the bothersome thing I call myself. Lord, give me a sense of humor, and I will find happiness in life and profit for others. Amen.
Pope Francis uses one prayer for good humor written by this same Saint, and even though we are hurt right now by him who is our Holy Father, we must not cease to pray for him despite the pain we feel. Sirach tells us,
He that honoureth his father shall have joy in his own children, and in the day of his prayer he shall be heard.... Honour thy father, in work and word, and all patience, that a blessing may come upon thee from him, and his blessing may remain in the latter end. The father's blessing establisheth the houses of the children.... Son, support the old age of thy father, and grieve him not in his life; and if his understanding fail, have patience with him, and despise him not when thou art in thy strength: for the relieving of the father shall not be forgotten. (Sirach 3:6,9-11a,14-15, DRB, emphasis mine).
May we still honor our Holy Father, and relieve him by our prayers and our holy joy, and not judge him harshly, because we must not return evil for evil, but instead we must be merciful.
Conclusion: Perseverance in Holy Joy
