September 20, 2019
The Face of Mercy / Daniel Conway

Pope Francis offers gratitude, encouragement to all priests

“The Holy Father’s letter to all priests is a most welcome gift, coming, as it does, at a particularly difficult time for the Church. Amid the pain, ugliness and anger, it is possible for the Church, and especially those who are priests, to fall into despair—the opposite of hope. Instead, the Holy Father reminds us that we must never lose sight of those ‘luminous moments when we experienced the Lord’s call to devote our lives to his service.’ That sort of memory recalls the many moments of gratitude and encouragement offered to us from the Lord and from others. While working to protect all of God’s people, especially the innocent and vulnerable, from the evil of the abuse of power, we should not become blind to how the joy and hope of Christ ‘are constantly born anew.’ Speaking as a priest and bishop in the United States, I thank the Holy Father for his wonderful letter to us.” (Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, N.J.)

Writing in August on the 160th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney, “the holy Curé of Ars and the patron of parish priests throughout the world,” Pope Francis acknowledges the pain experienced by priests today. He also offers words of encouragement and thanks in the manner of “an older brother and a father who reassures them in these difficult times, encouraging and supporting them along the way.”

The vast majority of priests serving throughout the world today are good and holy men. They have “left all behind,” the pope says, and responded to Christ’s call to follow him and to share in his ministry “in the trenches, bearing the burden of the day and heat, confronting an endless variety of situations in [their] effort to care for and accompany God’s people.”

Pope Francis uses the occasion of St. John Vianney’s feast day to express his appreciation to all priests “who, often without fanfare and at personal cost, amid weariness, infirmity and sorrow, carry out your mission of service to God and to [their] people.

“Some time ago,” Pope Francis writes, “I shared with the Italian bishops my worry that, in more than a few places, our priests feel themselves attacked and blamed for crimes they did not commit.”

Without in any way forgetting “the cry, often silent and suppressed, of our brothers and sisters who were victims of the abuse of power, the abuse of conscience and sexual abuse on the part of ordained ministers,” the Holy Father seeks to reassure priests that he is aware that the pain felt by the entire people of God “has also affected priests.”

“Many have shared with me their outrage at what happened and their frustration that for all their hard work, they have to face the damage that was done, the suspicion and uncertainty to which it has given rise, and the doubts, fears and disheartenment felt by more than a few. I have received many letters from priests expressing those feelings,” the pope writes. “At the same time, I am comforted by my meetings with pastors who recognize and share the pain and suffering of the victims and of the people of God, and I have tried to find words and actions capable of inspiring hope.”

Words of gratitude, encouragement and praise for all priests represent Pope Francis’ efforts to inspire hope among his brothers. “Gratitude is always a powerful weapon,” the pope writes. “Only if we are able to contemplate and feel genuine gratitude for all those ways we have experienced God’s love, generosity, solidarity and trust, as well as his forgiveness, patience forbearance and compassion, will we allow the Spirit to grant us the freshness that can renew [and not simply patch up] our life and mission.”

In addition to saying thanks to his brother priests, Pope Francis seeks to encourage them. “Faced with painful experiences, all of us need to be comforted and encouraged.”

Without ever denying or diminishing the reality of pain and sorrow, Pope Francis invites his brothers to experience once again lasting joy. “Despite our frailties and sins,” the Holy Father says, “with a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, God makes it possible for us to lift up our hearts and start anew.”

Finally, Pope Francis calls attention to Mary, the mother of Jesus and our mother. “She, the woman whose heart was pierced, teaches us the praise capable of lifting our gaze to the future and restoring hope to the present.”

May the Lord bless all priests. May the Holy Virgin watch over them, comforting and encouraging them in their daily lives and ministries.

The Face of Mercy

By

Daniel Conway

Preaching joy in tough situations

Life is too short. Humor is of utter importance. The problems of the world, the problems of the Church, they are many. But you cannot forget about the Joy of the Gospel. It’s not the Sadness of the Gospel! (Australian Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green, quoted in Crux).


Two of the most consistent themes in the teaching of Pope Francis are “joy” and “missionary discipleship.” The Holy Father returns to these themes regularly elaborating on them and applying their meaning to diverse situations and circumstances.

During his Angelus remarks on Sunday, July 7, Pope Francis formally connected joy and discipleship saying, “True joy is to walk in the company of the Lord.” The Church is missionary by nature, the pope said, and missionary disciples must always be joyful, bringing peace and healing to all.

In his first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis writes:

I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”. The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your redeeming embrace”(The Joy of the Gospel, #3).

Joy is (or should be) available to everyone, and Christ’s faithful missionary disciples are charged with the serious responsibility of bringing healing, peace and abundant joy to everyone they encounter.

This is challenging work. Many people find themselves in situations that are anything but joyful. Regardless of one’s political, racial, ethnic, economic or social background, life can be burdensome—even oppressive. “If something should rightly disturb us and trouble our consciences,” the Holy Father says, “it is the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters are living without the strength, light and consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ, without a community of faith to support them, without meaning and a goal in life” (The Joy of the Gospel, #49).

Missionary disciples should not be overwhelmed by the extreme hardships faced by the people they are called to serve. If we proclaim the Gospel with an open heart and a true missionary attitude, Pope Francis says, “the mission of the Church will be marked by joy.”

During his homily for Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday, July 8, Pope Francis said:

On this sixth anniversary of the visit to Lampedusa, my thoughts go out to those “least ones” who daily cry out to the Lord, asking to be freed from the evils that afflict them. These least ones are abandoned and cheated into dying in the desert; these least ones are tortured, abused and violated in detention camps; these least ones face the waves of an unforgiving sea; these least ones are left in reception camps too long for them to be called temporary. These are only some of the least ones who Jesus asks us to love and raise up. Unfortunately the existential peripheries of our cities are densely populated with persons who have been thrown away, marginalized, oppressed, discriminated against, abused, exploited, abandoned, poor and suffering. In the spirit of the Beatitudes we are called to comfort them in their affliction and offer them mercy; to sate their hunger and thirst for justice; to let them experience God’s caring fatherliness; to show them the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. They are persons; these are not mere social or migrant issues! “This is not just about migrants”, in the twofold sense that migrants are first of all human persons, and that they are the symbol of all those rejected by today’s globalized society.

Missionary disciples are called to proclaim the joy of the Gospel to all, but most especially to the “least ones” who have been abused, abandoned and effectively forgotten.

Let’s remember to pray for the “least ones” and to do everything in our power as disciples of Jesus Christ to “walk in the company of the Lord” and to share his joy with all our sisters and brothers.

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Editorial on the Death Penalty
August 2019
Daniel Conway

Say yes to life, no to the death penalty

The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person…The Church works with determination for its abolition worldwide (Catechism of the Catholic Church, N. 2267, as revised with the approval of Pope Francis, May 11, 2018).

Church teaching on the death penalty is simple but not easy. The death penalty is “inadmissible” because it violates the dignity of a human person, regardless of that person’s crimes against individuals, society or humanity at large.

This is a development of earlier Church teaching. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church, N. 2267 notes, “Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes, and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good.” However, recent popes, including St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis, have moderated this position noting that “there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes.”

In his recent address to the International Association of Criminal Law, Pope Francis said, “It is impossible to think that States do not have at their disposal means other than capital punishment to defend the life of others persons from unjust aggression. St. John Paul II condemned the death penalty (cf. Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 56) as does also the Catechism of the Catholic Church, N. 2267).” In his address, the Holy Father goes on to say, “Therefore, all Christians and people of good will are called today to fight not only for the abolition of the death penalty, whether legal or illegal, and in all its forms, but also in order to improve the prison conditions, in respect of the human dignity of the persons deprived of freedom.”

The simple, but all-important teaching of our Church is that all human persons are entitled to dignity, respect and, above all, protection of their life. The taking of a human life is the ultimate violation of human dignity. This principle is absolute.

Critics of this development of Church teaching refer to “sacred Scripture and the constant tradition of the ordinary and universal Magisterium” to make the argument that “the Church did not err in teaching that the civil power may lawfully exercise capital punishment on malefactors where this is truly necessary to preserve the existence or just order of societies.” And this is true. The Church’s previous stance on the exercise of capital punishment was not in error, but it was insufficient, or incomplete, in light of the Church’s further reflection on the inviolability of all human life.

Given the clear teaching of our Church, unequivocally expressed by our chief teacher and pastor Pope Francis, Catholics are right to oppose the recent decision of the Trump administration to reinstate the death penalty as the ultimate punishment for serious federal crimes. Even using the former understanding, there is absolutely no reason to believe that today in the United States of America capital punishment “is truly necessary to preserve the existence or just order of Society.” We can debate the wisdom of changing the wording of the Catechism, but the fact remains that, given the alternatives, the death penalty is, at best, unnecessary and at worst, inhuman and unjust.

Catholics in Indiana should be especially concerned about the implications of the administration’s new directives. It appears that the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, will become the site for executions scheduled to take place later this year and early next year. As “people called to fight not only for the abolition of the death penalty in all its forms, but also to improve prison conditions in respect of the human dignity of the persons deprived of freedom,” we cannot stand by idly and do nothing.

What can we do? We can say “yes to life” from the moment of conception until natural death. And we can say “no” to all forms of death-dealing including capital punishment, whether legal or illegal, and in all its forms.” This is simple because it’s the right thing to do. It’s not easy because aspects of Church teaching on the inviolability of all human life, including those who have committed heinous crimes, are often politically incorrect. We oppose abortion, euthanasia, neglect for the basic needs of migrants, the homeless and the poor because we say “yes to life” and “no” to all forms of cruelty and inhumanity.

Let’s pray for the abolition of capital punishment worldwide and in our own backyard. Let’s speak out forcefully against the death penalty out of respect for the human dignity of all persons. God alone is the giver of life, and only God should take this precious and inviolable gift away.

Moderate Catholicism

The Good Steward
July 2019

Moderate Catholicism


The summer of 2018 opened the flood gates. The immediate cause was the news of credible accusations of sexual abuse against Theodore E. McCarrick—who was revered by many as a priest, bishop and then cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, followed by the Pennsylvania attorney general’s report documenting four decades of clergy sexual abuse and cover-up in five Pennsylvania dioceses. Then came a public statement (called a “testimony”) by a former apostolic nuncio to the United States who accused Pope Francis of deliberately ignoring the allegations against McCarrick, urging the pope to resign.

In the wake of these “revelations,” churchmen lined up on opposing sides (commonly, if simplistically, identified as left wing, liberal Catholics versus right wing, conservatives. Some vigorously defended Pope Francis against his accusers. Others seized on this opportunity to denounce the pope and even question the legitimacy of his papal ministry.

I remember reading two articles in succession. One blamed the current crisis on St. John Paul II. The other took aim at Pope Francis. “Where’s the middle ground?” I asked myself. During this crazy time in the history of our Church, who speaks for balance or moderation?

There are voices that urge faithful Catholics to keep their heads and not give in to the temptation to see everything in terms of black or white, left or right, liberal or conservative. But these voices of moderation, by their very nature, speak softly. They do not shout or blame or ridicule. They seek the truth reasonably, and before making rash judgments they give careful consideration to all sides of the various arguments.

I want to add my voice to those who seek to articulate a balanced, thoughtful position—not just on the current crisis, which clearly is the tip of a much larger, deeper iceburg, but on the meaning of life and the mission of Catholicism. I want to speak moderately and to express views that are faithful to Scripture and Church teaching. I want to advocate for Moderate Catholicism as the only sane and healthy way to view the issues that confront us today both inside the Church and outside it in the secular world.

How do I define Moderate Catholicism? With some difficulty, I admit. From one perspective, I would say that Catholicism properly understood and practiced is moderation in both teaching and practice (doxis and praxis). It is a balanced way of thinking, worshiping, working, helping others and even making love. Moderation becomes important when any one or all of these things have been exaggerated, stretched beyond their natural (or supernatural) limits.

When “truth” becomes so relative that any point of view becomes valid, the wisdom of the Church is needed to bring opposing arguments into proper perspective. If racism, for example, is always and everywhere evil, there must be an underlying principle that makes this conviction true. I believe that principle is the notion that every human person is made in the image and likeness of God and, therefore, possesses an inviolable dignity and equality that cannot be denied by any human laws or customs. But if this principle—the inviolable dignity and equality of every human being is true, then it must be applied to all human life including the unborn, the elderly, the poor and disabled physically or mentally. Catholicism in moderation sees the truth of things in a balanced way. It opposes the death penalty for the same practical-but-also-moral reasons that it regards abortion as untenable.

Moderate Catholicism resists extreme approaches to worship. Recognizing that there is lots of room for cultural and liturgical diversity in the Church, moderates resist rigidity on the left and on the right. Is liturgical music better when it’s contemporary or traditional? A moderate approach would be to decide this question (and many others) in a responsible, pastoral way and not make too big a deal about it. Obviously there are some things (like the form of the liturgy and its sacred elements) that are non-negotiable, but it’s never a good idea to get so wrapped up in externals that we forget what really matters—the presence of Christ in the Eucharist and our communion with him and each other.  

“Work is for man. Man is not for work.” St. John Paul II gave expression to this fundamental Catholic social teaching. It means that we human beings work to live; we do not live to work. Any economic system or social doctrine that fails to accommodate this fundamental teaching falls outside the purview of Moderate Catholicism. We can be capitalists only to the extent that our economy, our laws and our social structures support the dignity and rights of individual workers and their families. We can be socialists under the same requirements, but any ideology that systematically oppresses human labor and initiative must be opposed on principle.

A moderate approach to Catholic social teaching would seem to be unchristian. After all, Jesus makes radical and uncompromising statements on virtually every page of the New Testament. “Go, sell what you have and give it to the poor” is a command, not a suggestion. But this is a command that most of us cannot obey literally. What’s needed is a fundamental conversion of mind and heart that recognizes God as the “owner” and “giver” of all that we possess. As stewards, we are called to develop and grow all God’s gifts and then share them generously with others. A moderate approach is to “give away everything” by letting go of all our spiritual and material possessions, living simply and responsibly and sharing God’s gifts with others, especially the poor and vulnerable.

And finally, we are called to moderation in sexuality. The extremes are well known—from “anything goes” to “nothing is permitted outside some very narrow and rigid lines.” Surely the truth lies in the middle, but in our highly eroticized culture the middle can be difficult to find and maintain depending on your age, your state in life or your mental and physical condition. Catholic teaching on human sexuality is not well understood even by faithful Catholics, but it does represent a wise and balanced perspective on one of the most important and challenging aspects of daily life.

The grand paradox of Catholic Christianity is that it urges us to make radical changes in our personal lives and in our world, but only in a ways that avoid turning Jesus’ way of life into a rigid ideology. That’s what I call Moderate Catholicism—a radical, but not rigid, way of living the Gospel.

Daniel Conway

Unborn children, the most vulnerable members of society

​Abortion has once again become “front-page news” with states such as Alabama, Missouri and Georgia enacting laws that restrict access to abortion, and other states such as New York, California and Illinois seeking to remove virtually any limitations on abortion.

Earlier this year, the Indiana General Assembly passed a bill, which Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law, that bans dismemberment abortion in the state, although it did not make national headlines like the newly passed laws in other states.

Our Church considers abortion to be the most serious of all the challenges to life we face today, including end‑of-life issues, capital punishment, HIV/AIDS, war, poverty, embryonic stem‑cell research, immigration issues, homelessness and more. This is because unborn children are the most vulnerable members of society and the most in need of our protection. They are innocent victims who must rely completely on the care and protection of others.

All crimes against the dignity of human life are horrible and must be vigorously opposed. But abortion stands out as an unspeakable evil that we must work to eradicate with all the resources at our disposal. As long as abortion remains legally and socially acceptable, our Church must speak out. We must pray and teach. We must protest and work to change our laws. We must help women in crisis pregnancies, and we must help “unwanted” children find good homes and loving parents.

In his final address as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2010, Cardinal Francis E. George, then archbishop of Chicago, made the following statement: “Consistently, and ever more insistently since the sin and crime of abortion was legalized in the United States, our voice has been that of bishops of the Catholic Church ever since the first Christians condemned the abortion practices of ancient Romans. The act is immoral; and the laws that have permitted now 50 million children of our country to be killed in their mothers’ wombs are also immoral and unjust; the laws are destroying our society.” These are strong words that must be spoken—over and over again—until abortion becomes a thing of the past here in our archdiocese, in our country and throughout the world.

Pope Francis recently reminded us that a fetus is not just “biological material.” An unborn child is a new living being, dynamic and marvelously ordered, a new individual of the human species. “No human being can ever be incompatible with life,” the Holy Father said recently. Every child is “a gift that changes the history of a family … and this child needs to be welcomed, loved and cared for.”

“Abortion is never the answer,” the pope says. “Human life is sacred and inviolable and the use of prenatal diagnosis for selective purposes must be strongly discouraged, because it is the expression of an inhuman eugenic mentality, which deprives families of the possibility of welcoming, embracing and loving their weakest children.”

The pope also reminds us that threats against the dignity of human life do not end with birth. Violence, especially toward children, can be found everywhere in our society. We must work to change our hearts, our culture, our laws and our social practices. We must end abortion and, with it, all forms of violence and abuse against those members of our society who are vulnerable and in need of our protection and care.

As long as abortion is legal and socially acceptable, we Christians (and all who believe in the dignity of human life) must work to overturn laws that are anti-life. We must reach out to women who may be considering abortion and help them find better, life-giving ways to deal with crisis pregnancies.

We believe that every human life is sacred. We proclaim the human person to be the foundation of human society. Nothing is more important to our Christian way of life than the defense of innocent and vulnerable unborn children. Nothing is more important to our spiritual lives than our prayers for life. Nothing is more important to our practice of the Catholic faith than our work to protect and defend life in Jesus’ name.

As Cardinal George said, “If the poor are allowed to be born, then the voice of Christ continues to speak to the homeless and the jobless, the hungry and the naked, the uneducated, the migrant, the imprisoned, the sick and the dying. Our ministry is consistent because the concerns of Jesus Christ are consistent. He is at the side of the poor.” To oppose abortion is to oppose all forms of violence against the dignity of human life. As the cardinal reminded us, “Ours is a consistent ethic of Christ’s concerns for all his people, especially the poor.”

Let’s pray for the most vulnerable members of our society. Let’s work to defend our unborn children who are most in need of our protection and care.

—Daniel Conway

Pope Francis tells young people: ‘Christ is alive’!

“The very first words then, that I would like to say to every young Christian are these: Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!” (Pope Francis, “Christus Vivit,” #1)

In his postsynodal apostolic exhortation titled “Christus Vivit” (“Christ is Alive”), Pope Francis reflects on themes explored during the October 2018 Synod of Bishops on “young people, the faith and vocational discernment” in Rome, adding his own thoughts and employing what some call “Bergoglioisms”—language and images that are distinctive to Pope Francis.

Readers are encouraged to read the full text of this important apostolic exhortation, but here is a brief 10-point summary of some of the main ideas in “Christus Vivit”:

• Both the Old and New Testaments show that God welcomes, and encourages, the active engagement of young people in the history of our salvation. As the Holy Father observes, “Jesus had no use for adults who looked down on the young or lorded it over them. On the contrary, he insisted that ‘the greatest among you must become like the youngest’ ” (#17, Lk 22:26).

• In St. Luke’s Gospel, the adolescent Jesus himself gives witness to what it means for young people to be fully engaged in the life of the Church. “Jesus does not teach you, young people, from afar or from without, but from within your very youth” (#31).

• Young people are not just the world’s future. “They are its present, even now, they are helping to enrich it” (#64). Young people today face unimaginable challenges. For this reason, it is necessary to listen to them without resorting to “pre-packaged answers and ready-made solutions, without allowing their real questions to emerge and facing the challenges they pose” (#65). 

• To all young people, Pope Francis offers three great truths: a) God loves you; b) Christ saves you; and c) He is alive! “In these truths, the Father appears and Jesus appears. And where they are, there is also the Holy Spirit. Invoke the Holy Spirit each day. You have nothing to lose, and he can change your life, fill it with light and lead it along a better path. He takes nothing away from you, but instead helps you to find all that you need, and in the best possible way” (#131).

• “No matter how much you live the experience of these years of your youth, you will never know their deepest and fullest meaning unless you encounter each day your best friend, the friend who is Jesus” (#150). Pope Francis challenges young people to be “courageous missionaries” who give witness to the Gospel with their lives. “Learn to swim against the tide,” the pope says. “Learn to share Jesus and the faith he has given you. … There are no borders or limits. He sends us everywhere” (#177).

• “When young and old alike are open to the Holy Spirit … the old dream dreams and the young see visions” (#192). That is why both young and old need to take risks together, walking together. “Roots are not anchors chaining us, but a fixed point from which we can grow and meet new challenges” (#200).

• “The family should be the first place of accompaniment and then the community” (#242). “All should regard young people with understanding, appreciation and affection, and avoid constantly judging them or demanding of them a perfection beyond their years” (#243).

• “Vocation is a call to missionary service to others for our life on Earth reaches full stature when it becomes an offering” (#254). According to Pope Francis, vocation “has to do with finding our true selves in the light of God and letting our lives flourish and bear fruit” (#257). This ‘being there for others’ normally has to do with two basic issues: forming a new family and working” (#258).

• “Without the wisdom of discernment, we can easily become prey to every passing trend” (#279). “A vocation, while a gift, will undoubtedly also be demanding. God’s gifts are interactive; to enjoy them we have to be ready to take risks” (# 289).

• Pope Francis’ concluding wish: “Dear young people, my joyful hope is to see you keep running the race before you, outstripping all those who are slow or fearful. Keep running, attracted by the face of Christ, whom we love so much, whom we adore in the Holy Eucharist and acknowledge in the flesh of our suffering brothers and sisters. The Church needs your momentum, your intuitions, your faith. And when you have arrived where we have not yet reached, have the patience to wait for us” (#299).
 

The Face of Mercy

By

Daniel Conway

God always forgives; joy always endures

Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved. (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel)

Two of the most consistent themes in the teaching of Pope Francis are mercy and joy. During Lent, the Church calls our attention to the inexhaustible forgiveness of God. In Easter time, we are called to share in the experience of endless joy. 

This joy is the result of an encounter with a person, Jesus Christ. Like the experience of falling in love, joy overtakes us. It floods our heart with a sense of beauty, goodness and fulfillment. Joy is a deeply spiritual experience that is very different from the physical satisfaction of our senses. 

The Gospel story of the prodigal son (Lk 15:1-32) is an illustration of true joy. The younger son sought pleasure through dissipation, but he came up empty. It was only when he faced his sinfulness and sought forgiveness that he could experience lasting joy. Sadly, the older son, whoobeyed his father and did all the right things, did not know joy because his heart was bitter and resentful.

“How good it feels to come back to [God] whenever we are lost!” Pope Francis writes. “Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to forgive one another ’seventy times seven’ (Mt 18:22) has given us his example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven. Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew. Let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire more than his life, which impels us onwards!” (EG, #3)

The personal encounter with Jesus that is the source of Christian joy is especially keen during the Easter season. Having come from a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving when we have emptied ourselves of false desires and futile attempts to find happiness in worldly things, we are reminded of how blessed we are by a God who gives himself to us unconditionally.

As Pope Francis says, “I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since ’no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord.’ The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms.” (EG, #3).

God never tires of forgiving us and “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Lk 15:7).” Mercy and joy come together. In Jesus, who is the face of God’s mercy, and our source of lasting joy, the two experiences are united.

As Pope Francis teaches, “Proclaiming Christ means showing that to believe in and to follow him is not only something right and true, but also something beautiful, capable of filling life with new splendor and profound joy, even in the midst of difficulties. Every expression of true beauty can thus be acknowledged as a path leading to an encounter with the Lord Jesus. This has nothing to do with fostering an aesthetic relativism which would downplay the inseparable bond between truth, goodness and beauty, but rather a renewed esteem for beauty as a means of touching the human heart and enabling the truth and goodness of the Risen Christ to radiate within it” (EG, #167).

Beauty, goodness and truth are inseparable from our experience of authentic joy. This Easter season, let’s be grateful for the mercy shown us “seventy times seven,” and let’s open our hearts to an encounter with God’s son, and our brother, who shows us with absolute certainty that “when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved.”