Gospel Joy, Evangelical Hope

Whenever I read, I am always looking for meaningful passages that would appeal to CUSANS, to people who are engaged in a daily struggle with the cross of chronic illness or disability. Paragraph six of the recent apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis is such a passage:

There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter. I realize of course that joy is not expressed the same way at all times in life, especially at moments of great difficulty. 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. I understand the grief of people who have to endure great suffering, yet slowly but surely we all have to let the joy of faith slowly revive as a quiet yet firm trust, even amid the greatest distress: My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness… It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam 3:17, 21-23, 26).

Christian hope, one of the three evangelical virtues, was the subject of Pope Benedict's second encyclical letter. Now Pope Francis raises the issue once again in his latest writing. Of course, hope is the great motive for any CUSAN who looks forward to the day when there will be "no more sadness, no more tears," and no more suffering. Pope Francis cites a passage from the Book of the Lamentations of Jeremiah: The LORD's acts of mercy are not exhausted, his compassion is not spent; they are renewed each morning . . . (Lamentations 3:22-23a) The French Franciscan friar, Thadee Matura, once referenced this passage in a rather graphic way in an article he wrote about the Franciscan charism of fraternal charity. Using a rather graphic example, he wrote that each morning, just as our human bodies flush away that which we have ingested on the previous day, God flushes away the sins we have committed and allows us to begin anew each day. Matura claims that this is a function of God's mercy. I once used Matura's example in a retreat that I preached to the friars. To this day, some of the friars remind me of it every time they run into me.

As gross as the explanation may be, it is a potent reminder of the fact that God is merciful. Even those who suffer physical pain or frustration due to chronic illness or disability can rejoice in the fact that God's mercy makes it possible for the sinner to hope for heaven. Though each of us stands before the judgment seat guilty as charged, our advocate in the person of Jesus Christ has paid the price for our sins. Is it any wonder that the baby in Elizabeth's womb leapt for joy when the Blessed Mother came into his mother's presence? Mary's song of joy, the great Magnificat, reminds us that God will in fact make the last the first, the least the greatest, the hungry the filled and satisfied, and those in pain free of it all.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator