A Joyful Heart!
“Why are you angry today?” echoed the curious third teen today. “I am not angry at all,” I responded. In fact it was a wonderful day, the Lord was blessing me abundantly and the ministry had been fruitful beyond our wildest imaginations and lastly I absolutely loved my missionary team. Why did the teens think I was upset? I asked them. It was because I had carried the usual large grin. They were concerned that I might be angry with them or something they did since I was without a smile. It caused me to think, the teens had come to take for granted that we wouldn’t ever have a bad day or something that might steal our joy or smile. This led me to a reflection on joy and the absolute need for us to be consumed by joy. The world is starving, starving not only for bread, but for true justice, for God´s unfailing love, and for an inalterable, unchanging, exalted joy! The world is starving for smiles. Bl. Mother Teresa always loved to say, “Joy is the normal result of a Herat burning with love.” Our hearts must burn with love for our Lord and for love of our brothers and sisters and therefore we should always be joy filled by the grace of God if we ask for to be truly joyful at all times and in all situations. We live in a world in which their joy and smiles have been stolen by fears, discouragement, constant worrying, and the weight of sin. As the author Shane Claiborne says in his book, The Irresistible Revolution, we are the “ordinary radicals” of an irresitible revolution, a revolution driven by dancing in the streets, smiling to everyone we meet, and instead of only dreaming about the Church we want, living it.
