Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter
"I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete." This verse from today's Gospel causes me to stop and ponder, specifically this line "your joy might be complete." It is only through Jesus and keeping his commands that we experience complete, full, abundant joy. Jesus is not talking about a superficial joy where everything always works out and we are always happy - that is unrealistic and false. I think instead he is speaking of a joy we feel deep within our souls - a joy that remains with us through hardship, challenges and fears, as well as successes, milestones and victory - a joy that is not fleeting but rather is abundant and constant.
To think that I have achieved this joy would be false and misleading. I believe this joy is possible in my life, but I think it is often hard to attain. It requires discipline, prayer and faith.
When I think of complete joy I think of my 1 year old daughter. The look on her face when I walk in the room - that is joy - total and complete joy. And I think it comes from her knowing she is safe and is in a place where she is loved completely and unconditionally. And I think that's what the Father wants for us. He wants us to know that we are safe and we are loved completely and unconditionally, no matter what.
But because he loves us, he sets limits for us, to help us achieve this joy. Because I love my daughter I set boundaries for her. I put up a baby gate so she doesn't fall down the stairs. I pick up the trash can so she doesn't knock it over and eat it. I move little toys that are too small for her. I set boundaries so she can live and love and be joyful without worry and fear and without getting hurt. In this very short Gospel reading the way that Christ says we attain this complete joy is by following the commandments. Essentially, by staying within the boundaries that God, our loving father has created for us. And it is when we live within these boundaries that we find we have the freedom to achieve complete joy.
When we are not concerned with jealousy and rage and anger at others, there is room in our heart for joy. When we are not lustful or trying to remember the lies we have told, we have the energy to experience this true joy. When we focus our attention on the Lord and we love Him above all else, when we are not worshipping false idols in our lives (in whatever form they take for you), we can and do experience this deep, abundant, complete joy.
And then something really incredible happens - we become conduits of that joy to others. Our joy spreads and creates joy in those around us. When I walk into the room and make eye contact with my daughter, her joy is palpable and it is all consuming for her - but it also does something incredible for me. Her joy transforms me - it chips away at whatever hardships, frustrations, resentments and petty grudges I am harboring and makes way for joy. In the same way that her joy stems from knowing she is deeply and unconditionally loved, I feel that same blessing from her. And it's the same feeling our father wants for each of us. He wants us to look upon the cross and to feel that same, palpable, overwhelming joy - joy stemming from the knowledge that we are loved - wounds and all. We are loved. Amen.
- AJ Grimm