Joy IS a Legitimate Spiritual Way

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Just like C.S. Lewis, I was Surprised by Joy. Of course there are certain serious Catholic bloggers who have a problem with my spirituality. Often traditional, Pre-Vatican ll prophets of doom, who religiously fast and recite prescribed set prayers for hours each day, take exception to my childlike spirit of joy. Yet this path was not of my choosing. I craved a life which would embrace an intense regime of self-sacrifice as a consecrated, contemplative religious. 

When God called me to marriage and to be a mother, I really did feel like I was accepting second best. Then, twenty years ago, a consecrated, contemplative who served in a  listening house,  said to me,

” You really have been given the best of both worlds. You are married with children yet you are living the contemplative life.”
Her response still brings tears to my eyes. To live a childlike spirituality of joy is not easy for a modern day adult. Of course St. Therese understood this humble, little way,
For me prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look towards Heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.  continue reading>

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