No Christian can exist without joy.
According to Vatican Radio, the Holy Father stressed this during his daily morning Mass today at Casa Santa Marta.
Through trusting in God, he said, Christians grow in joy. Because God always remembers His covenant, Francis continued, “the Christian knows that God remembers him, loves him, accompanies him, is waiting for him. And this is joy.”
Can’t Have 2 Masters
Reflecting on the First Letter of St. Peter the Apostle, the Pope highlighted that even if we are plagued by trials, we can never lose the joy of knowing that God “regenerated us in Christ and gave us hope.”
“The Christian ‘identity card,'” the Argentine Pontiff underscored, “is joy, the Gospel’s joy, the joy of having been chosen by Jesus, saved by Jesus, regenerated by Jesus; the joy of that hope that Jesus is waiting for us, the joy that – even with the crosses and sufferings we bear in this life – is expressed in another way, which is peace in the certainty that Jesus accompanies us, is with us.”
Turning to the day’s Gospel story where Jesus encounters a wealthy man, the Pope observed the young man had many possessions, but was miserable since he was “shackled to his belongings” and couldn’t open his heart.
“Jesus told us,” the Pope recalled, “that one cannot serve two masters: either one must serve God or serve riches. Riches are not bad in themselves, but slavery to wealth – this, is wickedness. The poor young man went away sad … ‘He frowned and he went away sorrowful’.
Warning those present against seeking happiness in the things that ultimately sadden us, Francis underscored, “They promise much, but they will not give us anything!”
“When in our parishes, in our communities, in our institutions we find people who say they are Christians and want to be Christian, but are sad, something is wrong there,” he said, stressing that Christians must help the sad find Jesus, take away that sadness, “so that they may rejoice in the Gospel and have this joy which is truly of the Gospel. ”
Pope Francis said we must help these people.
Holy Spirit Gives Joy, Amazement
When faced with God’s Revelation and love, Christians feel ‘joy and amazement,’ the Pontiff stressed. “Only through the strength of God and the power of the Holy Spirit,” Francis explained, do we have this Christian joy and we are saved from worldly attachments.
Pope Francis concluded, praying that the Lord “graces us with amazement in His presence, in the presence of the many spiritual treasures He has given us; and with this amazement, may He give us joy, the joy of our lives – and of having our hearts at peace, even when faced with many difficulties.”
“Remember well: a Christian is a man, and a woman, of joy, joy in the Lord; a man and a woman of wonder,” he said.
