RE: 05.07.15~God wants us to be filled with joy

Commentary
GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH JOY
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete.” This is good news indeed! Christ speaks these words to his apostles to fill them with joy. And the reason for this joy is that throughout his life Jesus has shown the Father’s love: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you.” When humanity will finally know God as God is, it will be filled with joy. The more one reads the Bible, the more one is struck by the importance given to this truth; humanity’s problem is that it does not know God, that it has a false idea of God. Humanity sees God as a terrible judge instead of a Father who rejoices over his children’s joy.

Beginning with the Old Testament, the prophets have always sought to reveal the true face of the God of tenderness and mercy, a God who wants us to live in joy. For example this is what Isaiah says: “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; they meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning flee away” (Is 35.10)… “Shout for joy and be glad forever in what I am creating. Indeed, I am creating Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight; I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people” (Is 65.18-19).

Since these passages are taken from later texts in the Old Testament, it means that Revelation has greatly advanced; Zephaniah even dares to say that God sings joyfully when his children are happy: “Shout for joy, daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, daughter Jerusalem! The LORD has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies; the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear. On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, Zion, do not be discouraged! The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior, who will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, who will sing joyfully because of you…” (Zep 3.14-17).

Unfortunately, we find all this hard to believe, as if it was too good to be true; only at the end of time will humanity finally know God and therefore live in joy. This is why, in the Old Testament, joy is always presented as an inherent part of the salvation that awaits humanity. When God “will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh,” as the prophet Joel says (3.1), then we will know that God is love and we will be filled with joy.

A JOY THAT NO ONE CAN TAKE FROM YOU
The New Testament speaks of the joy that accompanied the coming of the One who came to reveal God’s face to humanity: for example, when the angel announces John the Baptist’s birth to Zechariah, he tells him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John.  And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth” (Lk 1.13-14). And when the shepherds are told of Jesus’ birth, the angel says, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Lk 2.10).

This theme was obviously dear to John; in his Gospel, on the night before his Master’s betrayal, the presence of joy is stronger than the trials at hand; for example: “You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I” (Jn 14.28)… Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you” (Jn 16.20-24). And in his last prayer, Jesus says to his Father: “now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely” (Jn 17.13).

In turn, the apostles promise joy; Saint John is very insistent on this promised joy in his letters:  “we are writing this so that our joy may be complete” (1 John 1.4) ... “Although I have much to write to you, I do not intend to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and to speak face to face so that our joy may be complete (2 John 12). Perhaps this is the mark by which we can recognize prophets and apostles: they reveal to us the true face of the God of joy. When their time comes they will hear these words spoken to them: “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy” (Mt 25.21).

Translated with permission by Simone Baryliuk, from: Commentaires de Marie Noëlle Thabut, 10 mai, 2015
http://www.eglise.catholique.fr/foi-et-vie-chretienne/commentaires-de-marie-noelle-thabut.html