An Endless Cup of JOY

By -
The Best Part of Waking Up is…
JOY in Your Cup!
I’ve been letting the following words [provided by a priest, as well as the Pope!] steep well within my heart today, and hope you’ll find them well worth tasting, too: 
Joys are hidden in sorrows!
I know this from my own times of depression.  I know it from living with people with mental handicaps.  I know it from looking into the eyes of patients, and from being with the poorest of the poor. 
We keep forgetting this truth and become overwhelmed by our own darkness.  We easily lose sight of our joys and speak of our sorrows as the only reality there is.  
We need to remind each other that the cup of sorrow is also the cup of joy,
that precisely what causes us sadness can become the fertile ground for gladness. 
Indeed, we need to be angels for each other, to give each other strength and consolation. 
Because only when we fully realize that the cup of life is not only a cup of sorrow — but also a cup of joy — will we be able to drink it. [-By Fr. Henri Nouwen] 
“What is this joy?  Is it to be happy?  No, it is not the same.  To be happy is good, yet joy is something more.  It’s another thing.  It is something which does not depend on external motivations, or on passing issues: it is more profound. It is a gift.  To be ‘happy’ at all moments at all cost, can at the end turn into superficiality and shallowness.  This leaves us without Christian wisdom, which makes us dumb, naive, right?  All is joy… no.  JOY IS SOMETHING ELSE; it is a gift from the Lord.” −Pope Francis

Amen!  And, therefore, as I awake in the morning to my “cup”, I’ll also recall…
“We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” −Fr. Henri Nouwen
May we choose well. God Bless. −EF

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Memorare

By Helen Gonsalves -
Image
This popular prayer, a favorite of many Catholics, dates back to the 15th century and takes its name from the first Latin word of the prayer, "memorare," which means "remember." The Memorare is of unknown authorship, although it has been attributed to St. Augustine (354-430), St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) and, with more reason, to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090-1153). St. Bernard's sermons on Mary were famous, and it was his Cistercian monks in the monastery of Citeaux in the 12th century who popularized the name "Our Lady" for Mary. The Memorare has also been attributed to the French cleric Claude Bernard (1588-1641), known as the "poor priest" of Paris, whose homilies contain passages that echo its words. No matter who wrote this prayer, it was Father Bernard who did much to popularize it, teaching it in hospitals and prisons, where Mary's intercession was effective in working miracles of grace. The first manuscript of the Mem
Read more

'Greater Love: Richie Fernando SJ', a joy-filled Filipino missionary

By -
Image
 I haven't been able to post for more than a week as I was giving an eight-day directed retreat to eight sisters of the Missionaries of Charity near Manila. While I had some access to the internet it was rather slow. I had intended to make a post here on the murder of Fr Fausto Tentorio PIME , a 59-year-old Italian priest, in the Diocese of Kidapawan, Mindanao, on Monday 17 October. I will save that post for a later date. As I was looking for a video about Father Fausto I came across one about Brother Richard Michael 'Richie' Fernando SJ, a Filipino Jesuit scholastic who died while trying to prevent a troubled and disabled young man in Cambodia from throwing a grenade. That was in 1996 - on 17 October. Father Fausto gave his life exactly 15 years later. I remember the mixture of sorrow and pride I felt when I read of the death of Brother Richie, pride as a missionary in the Philippines that a young Filipino seminarian had given his life so spontaneously in order to sav
Read more

Why Modesty Is Not Subjective

By -
Image
Hi there, ya'll!  The modest fashion world is one very diverse place.  Even among Catholics, the definition of "modest apparel" can vary greatly from person to person.  Recently I joined a Facebook group that advertised itself as a haven for Catholic women of all ages to share ideas for modest style and makeup and was hoping to learn more about modesty from my fellow Catholic sisters.  After a few days of being a member, though, I sadly left the group feeling a bit discouraged.  No two members seemed to agree on ANY aspect of modesty whatsoever, and the prevailing theme of the whole group was that modesty is subjective, it means something different for each woman and each woman gets to decide what she considers is "modest".  One woman very emphatically declared that she wears bikinis every summer to the beach and doesn't feel that this violates the virtue of modesty in the least.  The same woman also announced that she was never going to caution her d
Read more