We are nearing the end of the Easter season for this year. Jesus prepares his disciples for his passion, death, and resurrection in today’s Gospel by announcing that their grief will be changed into joy. The message and language seemed hard to understand for those first disciples. They even questioned what he could be talking about. After Jesus’ death the disciples were filled with grief, confusion, fear, doubt, anger, resignation, and many more emotions. After their experience of the resurrection, joy became a central characteristic in the lives of each disciple. This unexpected and overpowering joy is central in the life of the Christian community up to today. Christ’s victory over death, sin, and punishment creates a new reality for all.
Too often we let ourselves become “sad-Christians” – not just for a moment or a season in life but as a constant way of life. This sadness makes us self-centered, tired, withdrawn, and lacking in energy. The first Christian disciples were just the opposite – out-going, self-sacrificing, and full of energy to share their faith. Actually, they become explosions of joy in the midst of their neighborhoods, families, and workplaces. Christian joy is not a frivolous, passing emotion. Rather is it a permanent experience of God’s presence in our lives every day – even in the tough days and seasons.
God created us in his image – the image of love for the other. Sharing and announcing that love as manifested through the resurrection of Jesus fills us with even more love and joy because that is why we were created: to live loving and to joyfully share that love.
Image: https://stmichael.catholic.sg/faith-formation/spreading-easter-joy/