‘I tell you most solemnly,
you will be weeping and wailing
while the world will rejoice;
you will be sorrowful,
but your sorrow will turn to joy.
JOY!
Sometimes joy is hard to find in this world. When a person is in the middle of a battle of personalities, legal battles, war, financial difficulties or any struggle then joy may be elusive. One of the scriptures that helps me focus to find joy is Matthew 28:17-20 When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
The line that gives me comfort and “joy” is where Jesus says, I am with you always. We are an intensely individualistic society. We are also a very lonely society. Our family, friends, Churches, Priests will fail us.
Humans will fail us, but Jesus gives joy!
My Grandfather, Michael, died of pneumonia sometime in the 1920’s. He left my, Grandmother, Mary, a widow with eight children on a rural farm in Lublin, Wisconsin. My Grandfather still had time but had not performed his Easter duty of Confession and Communion. The Priest refused to bury him and allow him to be buried in sanctified ground. My Grandmother was upset. Nonetheless, some nice Lutheran neighbors helped her bury him in their Lutheran cemetery.
The story gets more involved. The Priest who refused to bury my grandfather was in the midst of a nervous breakdown. No one was aware of this until the Priest was relieved of his duties and sent to a rest home months after the burial. In the meantime, the diocese purchased all the land around the small Lutheran cemetery, and it became a Catholic cemetery and sanctified ground.
Joy!
We forget that Priests are human, and I think I respect them more when I respect them not only as Priests but more so as human beings. We are One Body in Christ. No human should feel alone. Jesus says in Sunday’s Gospel (John 15:9-11)
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
You are never alone.
Jesus and His love for us are always with us in all our struggles. There is only one entity that wants to take away our joy, and he is the Devil. Some will call it bad luck or probability. Be aware the Devil will use any means to take away our joy. When there is no hope there is no joy.
Jesus says remain in His love and your Joy will be complete.
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
PS: Please Pray for Cancer victims and their caregivers. Pray for the conversion of Russia and the salvation of the Ukrainian and Russian people and their soldiers. Pray for the Holy Land. Pray for peace!
Also please pray for the repose of the soul of Dr Michael Keleher of Dublin, Ohio who died recently in Hospice.
