Rejoice Always
Earlier this year, I was blessed to make my first pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This was a trip I had planned to take with my brother deacons during our last year in seminary but was postponed two years due to the Coronavirus. To finally be in the places where Jesus was born, lived, and proclaimed the Kingdom was nothing short of amazing!
Since we are now celebrating Easter, I’d like to share an experience of hope and joy I had while praying in THE empty tomb. For my last night in the Holy Land, I was able to sign up with the Franciscans to be “locked in” the Church of the Holy Sepulcher all night—you should do this if you’re ever there!
That night, as I entered the tomb, I brought with me all my worries and fears—my own personal struggles as well as my concerns about my parish, diocese, the Church, etc.—and I laid them all down on the slab of stone where Christ’s body used to lay. Then, in place of these worries, I was filled with joy and hope, and an absolute confidence that, since Christ truly rose from the dead, He is in charge! If He can conquer death, He can conquer anything.
Ever since returning home, I keep going back to this grace, trying to unpack what God is doing. God wants us to always live in the joy of the Resurrection. St. Paul, in his first letter to the Thessalonians, gives us this surprising command:
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”
—1 Thessalonians 5:16-17
I would love to always live in the joy I experienced at the empty tomb, but how is that possible? We live, as the Hail, Holy Queen puts it, “in this valley of tears”—with so much pain, suffering, and struggle—so how can it be the will of God in Christ Jesus for us to always rejoice?
As I have prayed with this, I have come to the conviction that the key to always living in the joy of the Resurrection is living in its hope. We often suffer from an impoverished notion of hope, but the theological virtue is not a mere desire, it’s not just waiting for some good thing in the future; rather, hope makes present here and now a share of the Heaven we long for. In Hebrews, we read, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the proof of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) Commenting on this passage, Pope Benedict XVI remarks:
“The fact that this future exists changes the present; the present is touched by the future reality, and thus the things of the future spill over into those of the present and those of the present into those of the future.”
—Spe Salvi, 7
When we live with the theological virtue of hope, we already possess—in seed form—the good hoped for. As St. Thomas Aquinas put it, the gift of grace we receive in this life is participation in the glory of Heaven. Therefore, if joy is the “delight in a present good” (also from St. Thomas) then we can and should rejoice always! Even in the midst of the worst trials and sufferings, hope gives us a present share in the glory of the Resurrection.
Recently, I met with ladies who serve as small group moderators for Magdala, and we discussed the importance of joy and hope in their ministry. Joy is one of Magdala’s organizational values, and these women truly radiate the joy of the Resurrection as they walk with women who are struggling to overcome addiction. No matter how dark things may seem hope always gives us some present good in which we can and should delight!
It is one of the Enemy’s oldest tactics to try and get us to forget the present good, and in the despair and shame that ensues, to give up hope in future redemption. My prayer for each of you this Easter season is that you always live in the hope that comes from the Resurrection—a hope for future glory arising from the dignity, worth, and ultimately the grace you possess right now. And finally, may “the things of the future spill into the present” and give you lasting joy!