As the gloomy days of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and the gloomy news world wide threatens to depress our spirits it is time to look again at the gift of joy. Mother Franziska had her share of setbacks, sufferings, failures and disappointments and yet she marveled in one of her letters that she was considered a joyful person. She would not have had such a large following in her lifetime if she had been a “gloomy gussy”.
True joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit… the world can bestow only momentary pleasure and sometimes even a passing happiness. The joy that we read about in Scripture is independent of outward circumstances. It comes from trusting the revealed truth that we are the children of an unconditionally loving and forgiving God. In the darkest moments Mother Franziska went to the tabernacle and cried her heart out to the Jesus present there. She tells us she always came away with renewed courage, peace, and yes, joy. How could that be? Can we imagine Jesus asking in her heart, “Do you love me?” As she answered “yes”, she could feel His loving smile and she knew that she was successful in the one thing necessary for her personal life and for the role God had given her… loving God with all her strength and being.
This is her heritage to her spiritual daughters and to all who are interested in her charism. Joy is the gift that comes from trusting in the love Jesus has for us and in His power to use us for the glory of His kingdom on earth in spite of our weakness and faults. We celebrate the great saints and the hidden saints in our own congregation and in our families. They became holy because they were not satisfied with passing pleasure and fleeting happiness. While they suffered adversity and enjoyed the beautiful gifts of this world, they never neglected to turn to Jesus and to respond to His question, “Do you love me?” with their own smiling or tearful “yes”.
True joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit… the world can bestow only momentary pleasure and sometimes even a passing happiness. The joy that we read about in Scripture is independent of outward circumstances. It comes from trusting the revealed truth that we are the children of an unconditionally loving and forgiving God. In the darkest moments Mother Franziska went to the tabernacle and cried her heart out to the Jesus present there. She tells us she always came away with renewed courage, peace, and yes, joy. How could that be? Can we imagine Jesus asking in her heart, “Do you love me?” As she answered “yes”, she could feel His loving smile and she knew that she was successful in the one thing necessary for her personal life and for the role God had given her… loving God with all her strength and being.
This is her heritage to her spiritual daughters and to all who are interested in her charism. Joy is the gift that comes from trusting in the love Jesus has for us and in His power to use us for the glory of His kingdom on earth in spite of our weakness and faults. We celebrate the great saints and the hidden saints in our own congregation and in our families. They became holy because they were not satisfied with passing pleasure and fleeting happiness. While they suffered adversity and enjoyed the beautiful gifts of this world, they never neglected to turn to Jesus and to respond to His question, “Do you love me?” with their own smiling or tearful “yes”.
