Joy!

I've been reading a book of meditations on Jesus' crucifixion, which I was given in response to some issues I was struggling with.  Thus, most of my musings over the past month have focused on either my own grappling or the more penitential - and less clearly joyful - aspects of my faith, or sometimes both together.  I think it may be portraying an unrealistic view of my present state of mind, which in reality has rounded a dark corner into a much brighter place. So just as Fr. Neuhaus' book is urging me not to rush to Easter, it is probably important for me to not rush into the Lenten desert, either!

I have received mercy, which I so desperately need, and there can be no response but to rejoice in it!  Even regarding my own failings, it isn't that "I'm SO terrible, and isn't it great that God can love even someone as awful as me," but that God is so awesome that he has provided a Way for all of us, no matter how badly we may have messed things up.  It isn't that those things don't matter, but that their only real importance is that he has transformed us.  And it's impossible to convey with mere words how great it is that God dwells in us, unites us with himself and lets us know him in ways that we could never hope for on our own!

Following Jesus fills my life with joy!  Even amid challenges (a friend's too-young death, my dad-in-law's health, daughter's family moving away soon, even remembering old hurts), I find myself celebrating the blessings God has provided for so long and anticipating those to come, though they're sure to be different from how we know them now.  And more than these gifts, I'm thrilled to spend time with the One who loves me most and with others who also love him in return, and am eager to share him with those who haven't encountered him yet.