Finding Joy!

“We live in  time when society confuses joy with happiness, but Scripture does not. Happiness is human, joy is divine. Happiness is fleeting, but true joy is eternal. Without God—who is Love—joy is not possible, but if Love is the root, joy is the fruit. (CCC1829)” Life Teen

I have always thought of happiness as a feeling, but when you find true happiness, this is joy. Joy is a feeling that comes from within, and comes from the love of God. In finding this joy, we are doing what God has called us to do, and are enjoying what we are doing, as well as living our lives centered around him. I can’t count how many times in my life, especially high school/college that I have been told by so many that when I make Christ the center of my life, and make him the center of all my decisions that I make, they are ones that are made according to his will for me and what I do in my life.

Over the past couple years, I have learned what this true joy is for me. I have always loved helping and teaching others, but there is something about being able to share your faith, and the great love you have for it with others, especially teens. So often I feel they are disregarded as not knowing anything about their faith, not wanting to know, or if they really even care with the culture that they live in today. How wrong could that perception be; for the youth are the future of the Church.  There is now way to describe all that one can do for teens, except I have learned that a lot of blood, sweat and tears really do go into fully entering into ministry with them. The hours and hours of planning, organizing, poster painting, forms…forms…and more forms, lots & lots of prayer. Making sure that every activity will be one that the youth will enjoy, and balancing with ones that will offer a time to learn and grow in their faith. The time away from family while traveling to camps, retreats and conferences with them, and the prayers to St. Michael and St. Christopher that everyone makes it back in one piece! The tears of frustration when your well laid out, and well organized plans begin to go awry, and from teens that you think have been sent to you just to test your patience (when you pray for patience, boy are you given the opportunities to practice it!). Spiritual warfare that builds as you get closer to your event, and leaning more and more into the arms of the Father through Mass, Reconciliation, and Adoration. Countless nights of sleep lost, a diet that becomes whatever is quickest, which usually equals fast food, or nothing, and lots and lots of coffee. I think that youth ministry has a huge impact on the Starbucks stock…the baristas get to know you when you are coming in every morning. Can’t decide if that is a good or bad thing. This is all worth it, and for years I have dedicated most of my time to the youth ministry program at my Church because when this happens….

“You get to share in that moment when a young soul first “gets it.” You witness the light bulb turn on and the heart grow brighter than it ever has before. You sit in awe as they extend a hand in praise. You smile as they reach for the monstrance. You weep as they run forward to Reconciliation or kneel in silent reverence, contemplating the depth of God’s love following Holy Communion. You’re not in ministry for the fruit, but you rejoice in God allowing you to see it…a small reward for the many hours of tilling, sowing, and plowing His ministerial vineyard.” Life Teen  

Its sitting in the last pew during Adoration and watching teens fall in love with Christ, encounter him in a new and beautiful way. It’s watching them dive into praise and worship. It’s sending them off in small groups with youth they may not know, and watching friendships form over the week. It’s being out, and watching them be nice to everyone they meet, and all trying to talk at once when we get asked what group we are with, and what our camp is. Its seeing the excitement on their face as they walk in the door…and the joy in their hearts as they leave. Its fulfilling.

I consider it to be a great and wonderful privilege to be able to work with teens. There is something about it that feeds the soul, and finding that joy. This divine feeling from God, from knowing his Love, and what it means to share him with others. They continually are teaching you new things, and what it means to have a child like faith.

“True joy only comes from God and realizing our deepest dependence on Him.” CCC 301

Truth, Goodness, and Beauty are all things that help the Christian to seek true joy in their lives. It’s about giving, and becoming a gift to others. When we give ourselves away, our desire is transformed. We love more deeply, and want to give ourselves more deeply. When we give for the Good, we are deeply satisfied. (Class notes) Life has a meaning and a goal, it’s just about finding what that is for you. We have been made for God, Love, and Heaven. (Class notes) We are made for love, from love. (Class notes)

Beauty. St. Thomas says that this is the first and specific cause of love; there is an attraction to something. (Class notes) St. Basil says that the beauty of God is the first cause of our love, and this love that we encounter from him. (Class notes) God, who created us out of love, so from the first point of our existence, we know how to love. There is nothing that is more beautiful that divine beauty. It’s what we are made for. (Class notes) God is love, and God is wisdom. In life, being drawn to good things is being drawn to truth, which is something beautiful in a world that only wants to feed you lies. When someone speaks the truth in love to you, you are drawn to it, and want more. (Class notes)

We are called to be the hands and feet of Christ in our daily lives in all that we do and say. True beauty will emanate from our inner most being. This is the place where the true beauty of Christ emanates from us…

“Above all else, guard your heart; for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23

We find this beauty in the person of Christ himself. We are compelled by his attractiveness, and by the way he teaches, teaches out of love.

Truth…so full of both beauty and goodness. If there is no truth, there can be no lasting happiness. (Class notes) Truth, connects to all the virtues, in being different movements of love. If we do not know the truth, for what are being courageous for? If we do not know the truth about what the other is owed, how can we be just? It is something that we are obligated to believe, but at some point in our lives, we have to know the fullness of the truth. (Class notes) We want to fall in love with our faith. Scripture, the greatest love story that has ever been written. The Psalms speak of love and truth, the Songs of Solomon speak of love, and St. John speaks of truth and knowledge. When we walk in truth, do truth. We gain a glimpse of God’s love in our lives. (Class notes)

Goodness. What does every person desire? To be a good person, make good decisions, and strive towards the greater good. St. Thomas Aquinas says that there is no difference between the cause of good and happiness; if you do the good, you will be happy and free. (Class notes) Aiming towards the good is profoundly human and divine, and when we are moving towards the good, we are partakers in the divine goodness and freedom for excellence. Happiness exists in a person when they move towards their end, which is God. (Class notes)

We are all called to holiness in whatever we are doing within our lives. God is the potter and we are the clay, and in striving towards living a holy life we are imitating Christ. We fill our life with so much that is not of God, but of this world. We have to empty our lives in order to be filled up. (Class notes) We have to discover what God wants for your life. We must follow his will, and not our own, but have an understanding that if we are in tune with him and our call for life, we will be doing his will.

“Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect,  go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”   Matthew 19:21

Christ must be the center of our life. If he is not, our choices that we make will not be in accordance with his will, and we will not always be striving towards the good if we are placing other things before him. It will not matter what is happening around us, all will work out in the end. Things in our life will work out for the best, and towards what God wants for us. For so many, it’s hard to fully trust someone, and give them total control of your life, but who better than someone who knows what his will for your life is that will be good and pleasing to him. It’s much easier said than done to let go and let God, but once you do, it’s amazing how things in life just begin to fall into place.

You’re the center of the universe
Everything was made in You Jesus
Breath of every living thing
Everyone was made for You

You hold everything together
You hold everything together

Christ be the center of our lives
Be the place we fix our eyes
Be the center of our lives

We lift our eyes to heaven
We wrap our lives around your life
We lift our eyes to heaven, to You

Center, Charlie Hall

The world is constantly feeding us lies…you’re not thin enough, there is no God, do whatever you want, there are not always consequences, and the list could go on. As long as you are serving Christ, you can be indifferent to what the world is saying about you. (Class notes) This goes back to the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes. If you are not attached to material things, happy are they who are poor in spirit. We are addicted to material things, constantly wanting the latest and greatest in technology, or the hippest clothes. Happy are you when you are not addicted to material things. Blessed are those who weep and mourn, for they are not attached to their feelings. (Class notes) We must love what Christ loved on the Cross, and despised what he despised on the Cross. He was crucified. He could not attach to material things. He cried. He was not attached to approval.  We must learn and understand that our lives are not our own, and it’s not about us.

In life, I do not think that we can embrace just one path. It seems as if they flow from one to the other and intertwine with each other. As humans, it is nature to constantly be searching for the truth about anything and everything. We find our ultimate truth in God. In him, all can be known and discovered; even as to what you are supposed to do in life.  Beauty comes out of truth and goodness in a person. To these we are attracted to. The good, it is what we are attracted to, and all things lead to this.

For me, I have found these things at Church. From volunteering, planning events, getting to know people, and leading teens closer to Christ, but in reality, I was leading myself. There is so much that we have to learn from them, and so much that we learn about ourselves when we give to others. I consider it a privilege and a blessing to be part of one’s faith journey. You may only have them in your small group for a year, or it may be one that sticks around and becomes very involved, but you long to see the fruits of your labor. To be able to see them brings great joy. There is nothing like seeing them teaching others, and longing to grow deeper in their faith. When they ask you questions, you become excited because they want to know more. When the volunteer to be in a leadership position and give up some of their some, you jump up and down because if just for a moment, the Lord has won over their heart and is going to do great things for them.

I've had this written for a while, but it just never seemed to be the right time to post, but after attending Confirmation in April, it needed some brushing up. The teens being confirmed were one’s who I taught when they were in 7^th grade, my first year volunteering. To see them still there, or some, who came back for this, in this I find great joy. They may not be into their faith, know a lot about it, or do not really care, but they have been claimed for the Lord. They have been sealed with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and he’s going to rock their world.  There is nothing better than that.