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QUIET JOY
In St John's gospel Jesus says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life...(Jn 3:36). The foregoing is earth shattering, life giving. Jesus is proclaiming the faithful believer already has a taste of eternal life. How is this blessing so? By participating in the Paschal Mystery, Jesus' Suffering, Death and Resurrection especially at Mass and each day we live the Good News.
But the above calling is very challenging for the modern Catholic immersed in a world in which many people have lost a sense of the transcendent. One way of dealing with these circumstances is fostering quiet joy.
On first brush quiet joy may seem like a meaningless oxymoron. How can an experience be quiet and joyful at the same time? When fireworks explode on Independence or Canada Days, we feel joy for our countries, but the experience is anything but quiet.
To understand quiet joy we must read the phrase with Biblical eyes, that is with the heart. For example, let us look carefully at a verse from Isaiah directed to Chosen People: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength”(Is. 30:11). The Holy Spirit writes the above word on our hearts too.
The quietness here comes from resting prayerfully in the Lord. Biblically “quiet” means rooted in Jesus the source of quiet joy despite the godless world's noise.
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So we need models of quiet joy. Mary is our prime example. When the angel announces to Mary she is to be the mother of the Messiah, her response is so deeply human and prayerful: she is not overcome by fear, but she is perplexed and wondering what this message could mean. When the angel tells her the Holy Spirit will overshadow her, she of deep faith responds with overwhelming joy: “Let it be done onto me.”
Our fiat too brings us quiet joy. What can we do to experience our fiat.
First, quiet joy initiated by the Holy Spirit takes root in the soil of fertile prayer. Mother Therese says living prayer flows from silent hearts responding to the Holy Spirit's promptings and whisperings We cannot, of course, set an alarm for the Holy Spirit, but we do know from the Psalmist that morning is the time of God's favor: “O Lord, in the morning you/hear my voice;/ in the morning I plead my/ case to you and watch”(5:3).
Second we have to abide in the Lord the source of quiet joy. Abiding in the Lord means remaining in him throughout the day. We do not mean trying to pray every minute of the day but acknowledging his presence. Jesus himself has told us what abiding in the Lord means and what are the fruits of resting in the Lord. In John's gospel we read: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love”(Jn, 15:9). And the fruit of abiding in the Lord is quiet joy. As Jesus adds, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be
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in you, and that your joy may be complete”(Jn. 15:11)
Paradoxically it is in our afflictions we experience the deepest quiet joy. St. Elizabeth of Seton has said, “This union of my soul with God is my wealth in poverty and joy in deepest afflictions.”
In sum, quiet joy comes from surrendering our person to the Lord, until the day we will experience the fullness of joy in God's presence.
With a B..A and an M. A, in English, Bernard, a retired teacher has been publishing short stories and religious articles since the early nineties in magazines and online. He favors articles on prayer and scripture.
