Word of the day

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles
Acts 18:1-8

Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus,
who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla
because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.
He went to visit them and, because he practiced the same trade,
stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
Every sabbath, he entered into discussions in the synagogue,
attempting to convince both Jews and Greeks.

When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia,
Paul began to occupy himself totally with preaching the word,
testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
When they opposed him and reviled him,
he shook out his garments and said to them,
"Your blood be on your heads!
I am clear of responsibility.
From now on I will go to the Gentiles."
So he left there and went to a house
belonging to a man named Titus Justus, a worshiper of God;
his house was next to a synagogue.
Crispus, the synagogue official, came to believe in the Lord
along with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians
who heard believed and were baptized.

From the Gospel according to John
Jn 16:16-20

Jesus said to his disciples:
"A little while and you will no longer see me,
and again a little while later and you will see me."
So some of his disciples said to one another,
"What does this mean that he is saying to us,
'A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me,'
and 'Because I am going to the Father'?"
So they said, "What is this 'little while' of which he speaks?
We do not know what he means."
Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them,
"Are you discussing with one another what I said,
'A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me'?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy."

Christian joy is the breath of Christians. A Christian who is not joyful in his heart is not a good Christian. It is this breathing, which is the way Christians express themselves. Joy. It is not something you buy or the fruit of an effort. No, it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. What brings joy into the heart is the Holy Spirit. Joy is not living from laughter to laughter. No, it is not that. Joy is not being funny. No, it is not that. It is something else. Christian joy is peace, the peace that is in the roots, the peace of the heart, the peace that only God can give us. This is Christian joy. It is not easy to cherish this joy. There is a good kind of restlessness, but there is another kind that is not good, and which is that of seeking security everywhere, that of seeking pleasure everywhere. Joy, consolation, are what makes us breathe as Christians. (Santa Marta, 28 May 2018)