Joy Always
- Gary Fritsch
- Sep 14
- 2 min read
Probably nine years ago, inspired by the great saints and most significantly our Blessed Mother, I adopted the signature 'Joy Always' for all of my emails. I have had many people ask about it, and today's Gospel is at the heart of my answer.
You see, there is a difference between Joy and Happiness. In my perspective it is this:
happiness is more of an emotion, a feeling of contentedness, and it can be fleeting. Joy on the other hand, true joy, only comes from God. It results from observing or knowing or being part of God's will coming to pass.
This is most evident in times of sorrow. While it would be impossible to be happy (assuming sorrow is the opposite of happiness), it is possible to be joyful, and Mary teaches us this. While she certainly could never be seen as happy about the suffering of her Son, she certainly could be understood as being joyful. Her soul does magnify the Lord, after all, and her spirit rejoices. This rejoicing does not just occur at the time that Jesus is born, but at the time He becomes 'God her Savior' - during His crucifixion.
The challenge for us is thinking of how God's will might be coming to pass in a given set of circumstances. For some help, we would do well to meditate on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. In all of these circumstances, the Blessed Mother, the Mother of Sorrows, would have, at the same time mourned and lamented and 'rejoiced in God her Savior."
If we keep this perspective in mind, perhaps we can always look for and account for the good that God is doing, even when circumstances leave us unhappy. Looking at life this way, can allows us to have Joy Always, even when life leaves us unhappy.
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