People of Joy

We are a people of Joy!

A priest said once,

J-Jesus first O-Others second Y-you last.

We have much to celebrate! Many great Feast Days All Year Long!

Don't fall into dispair for any reason especially not because of sin or the devil wins. He tries to tell you that your sin means you must feel ashamed and dirty, but no you are a person of the light! If You have confessed your sin with repentance then now its time to rejoice for you hVe been forgiven by His beautiful divine mercy! Trust in Him. Love Him. Go out proclaiming the good news and make a difference! Spread Joy and Jesus! The devil tries to make ou feel bad like you arent worthy of being foriven and God won't cocme for you. but Jesus tells us otherwise! He comes ffor every lost sheep with so much love in His heart! You are that one sheep I am that one sheep too! Jesus is coming for us every time we fall to pick us up adn show us the way. Jan 11th was the Baptism of Jesus. This month, Remember your baptism and what that measn for you. You're a chld of God made in His image. Let's rejoice we have much to be grateful for and happy about! The Christmas Season the coning of Jesus. How about knowing becasue of His great sacrifice He loved us that much and saved us all ! He Rose Again on Easter Day! Giving us all a chance at Heaven eternally with Him andd the Father. He hasn't left us alone. Mary intercedes for us, He is there for us, the saints and our guardian angels are here for us helping us out along the way wishing only for our souls to get to heaven, and He left us with His Holy Spirit within us, so we may be fueled by the fire of His sacred heart to go out and do great things for His people. In a sermon one time a priest said if we love Jesus so much more than we love baseball teams, concert performers, then why don't we wear Jesus on our shirts as much as sports team jerseys and musician merch? Express Your Faith Joyously Boldly proclaiming your love for Him. I love Jesus soooo soooo much with all of my being I want theworld to know how good He has been to me and I want them to go to heaven someday and be with Him so I must be willing even if i am opposed by other views, I must proclaim "Veritas" (Truth in Latin)! Smile at church! Don't look so miserable and half awake my goodness people! Bow down your heads but lift up your voices! As a church cantor I am so blessed I love singing hymns! They arent just songs! They are Prayers through song form! Come to mass and say and sing the prayers joyfully. Don't just recite and go through the motions, but remember what actually takes place at mass for you right there in front of you! He is there! Take the time to offer up your intentions for situations you or your loved ones may be going through, or thank Him for some big or small everyday blessing that He gives you. So much to talk to Him about. So much to rejoice and be thankful for. We are a people of Joy and praise. Let's Praise Him so the angels hear our voices and sing along!

Lets praise Him outside of the church too so we can bring people to Him! Don't be afraid if someone is of a different faith. I understand not wanting to hurt their feelings but honestly I'd be more concerned with how God feels than hurtng smeones feelings! Speak peacefully, calmly, respectfully, and kindly, but don't ever not stand up for your faith and don't be afraid to tell someone they are wrong or they misunderstand something with the faith and are judging falsly or putting a spinn on something or spreading false rumors. St Therese devoted her life to bringing souls to heaven. As Catholics we must do the same and bring everyone we can with us. We mess up too we aren't perfect so maybe approach that way by explaining humans are flawed but Jesus came to save us anyway beccause of how much He loves us! If you look miserable and grumpy then someone you interact with might think wow that Catholic person is a grump and may end up judging the faith because of it, so please alwayys be mindful of your expressions and how you come across. You are the church we all are! so show everyone you interact with a smile and the joy of Jesus and the Catholic faith. St Pier Giorgio Frassati was a everyday guy who lived his life mountain climbed, had a friend group he liked to hang out with, but in all that he did in his life, He spread Christ! He spread the love of Christ to a person who he gave his coat and shoes to. He spread the love of Christ by talking about Him all the time to His friends in an excited joyous way as if you just read some great news in the newspaper, or these days saw a really cool post! He took every chance he got while bike riding or hiking to pray the rosary because He enjoyed praying and giving His time to Jesus and fighting against facism and lies, but spoke for the Truth of Jesus Christ.

It is okay to feel sadness, grief, loss at times but we must remember to trust Jesus and not wallow in dispair but to go back out with the hope of Christ. First there's darkness on that friday, but then on the 3rd day, He Rose Again!

The priest or deacon says at the end of mass;

Go out and proclaim the gospel of the Lord!

Do we do that? and are we filled with the Joy of Jesus as we go back out into the world after recieving Him in the Eucharist? We must come out differently as when we went in to mass.

John 15:11

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

• Mark 16:15: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation".

Part 2

Even if we are a people of Joy, It's Lent and we don't typically associate Lent with Joy. It is a time of prayer, fasting, penance, & almsgiving. Though many of the saints such as St Faustina offered up their suffering to the Lord.

"Do this in rememberance of Me" He suffered so much for us. At Lent we can offer up our suffering for Him. Iknow that doesn't sound joyous, but hear me out. We can use Lent to not just give up stuff we like but instead of watching that soap opera in the middle of the day, perhaps use that time to do something positive for God. Give God a gift for Lent. It is a joyous time because God gave us everything, now we get to give Him a gift! That is a blessing when you think of it like that. Our sufferings don't have to be big things. Look at my confirmation saint, St Therese. You can do small things but with Big Love as she did with her Little Way. Its not just about giving stuff up, but replacing that time with something good like less tv time or social media time, and more time spent in prayer. When we fast we shouldn't appear to be fasting to the public, it's a gift for God after all not to show off to people. We can spend that time we usually spent doing something else, by spending that time in adoration of the sacrament of the eucharist, or perhaps take advantage of the more confesssion times available at your church during Lent. Thats something to be joyous about! Being cleansed of our sins because of Christ's great sacrifice. Maybe as a gift for Him, you could donate your time at the church, help give to the homeless, volenteer your time doing something for someone else and spend less time focused on yourself and selfish wants.

Spread Joy & Jesus as much as you can this Lent with as many people as you can.