As a Jesuit novice, I was sent on a two-week journey with little money, no phone, and a one way bus ticket to Los Angeles. I eventually found myself in a homeless shelter in Denver, where as I attempted to fall asleep one night, another man was preaching to anyone who could hear him. I remember him saying over and over again, “I don’t understand people who don’t believe in God.”
There is a famous story from St. Ignatius’s later years. At night the old man would go up on the roof of the Jesuit community in Rome. He would stare at the stars for a long time, and as the young companion who spied on him reported, he would cry tears of joy.
Joy is at the heart of Christ’s saving work. It is the very thing he came to bring. He gives it other names too: life, abundance, fire, the kingdom of God, treasure in heaven, etc. It comes when we trust the Lord, give ourselves to him, and live according to his way. The apostles experienced it, St. Ignatius experienced it, countless Christians experience it every day, and I think that man in the homeless shelter experienced it, which is why he just couldn’t understand how people didn’t embrace the Good News. Perhaps it is because we too often fail to lead with our joy. Let’s let joy be the defining characteristic of our lives, for it is precisely what Jesus wants for us. It is the very sign of his love and the confirmation of our closeness to him.