Friday in the Sixth Week of Easter
Acts 18:9-18; Jn 16:20-23
Today's Gospel reading is full of strong and contrasting emotions. Jesus says that while his disciples mourn and weep the world will rejoice. The grief and anguish of the disciples will change into great joy like that of bringing a new child into the world.
For some time unfortunately, emotions were not given the importance that they deserved. They were almost considered to be something negative, irrational. For some time, we thought that they distract us from God and from seeking what is good. Nowadays however there is a renewed interest in the emotions, or rather the passions.
What determines whether I mourn or rejoice, whether I am a disciple of Christ or whether I am "one of the world"? We ought to ask ourselves, what grieves me, what makes my heart rejoice?
Our emotions say a lot about us, about our deepest desires and longings. This is why Jesus gives them so much importance. Sometimes we might go off track. And that is why we must educate our emotions and keep them in check.
This is, in fact, one of the functions of the Holy Spirit: he guides our emotions. Do I still feel anger in front of injustice, or have I become so used to situations of injustice that they have no effect on me any more? Do I still rejoice at the faintest glimpses of God's presence in the face of my brothers and sisters or do I overlook these subtle hints of God's love?
The joy that Jesus is talking about is a bit like an acquired taste, like a fine whiskey. Who is not used to drinking whiskey would think that all whiskeys are the same - or perhaps even that they are too strong or leave a strange sensation in your tongue and throat. Those who would have acquired a taste for whiskey however would be able to notice the various notes and would settle for nothing except the finest of whiskeys.
I think it is the same thing with the joy that Christ wants us to have. It is not something that you can recognise immediately because the joy that God proposes does not impose itself on us. It is subtle and fine yet deep and powerful. We must be sensitive and receptive to it in order to receive it and to relish it. Other types of joys are nothing more than superficial happiness that might make our heart content for a while but which fades away very quickly.
This is one of the properties of the Christian - not to be a whiskey drinker - but to be always full of Christ's joy. Pope Francis reminds us that the Christian must always be joyful - he or she must not have the face of one returning from a funeral!
May our Christ's joy be in our hearts and that our joy may be complete.
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