The Fruit of the Spirit is Joy

Introduction. The fruits of the Spirit are qualities or virtues that flourish in one who has become a child of God through faith and baptism. These qualities of virtues make us Christ-like. They are produced in us by the Holy Spirit. The first and most characteristic sign of the Christian is LOVE. The second, according to St. Paul, is JOY. A Christian is essentially a joyous person. What is that joy which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit?

• Not a virtue, but a quality that flows from love. It is a fruit of love. As inseparable from love as the fragrance is inseparable from the rose.
• Not pleasure, which is at the level of the senses.
• Not the result of happy dispositions or one's temperament. Some people are by temperament happy-go-lucky, outgoing, sanguine, optimists.
• But spiritual joy, which comes with knowing God's love for us and loving him in return.

Joy is not a luxury for a Christian. It is part of our spiritual health. It is a sign that we love God to rejoice and delight in him. We also need joy to function spiritually at our best. Joy gives us spiritual energy, a drive in serving God and doing his will; it produces enthusiasm and fervor for the Lord. In the Book of Nehemiah, a book of the Old Testament, we read: "The joy of the Lord is my strength.” It does give us strength to love and serve God. That's one reason why spiritual joy is so important. Indeed, it’s part of growing in the love of God and holiness.

Rejoice in the Lord always! Thus Paul cries out in his letter to the Philippians. "Rejoice in the Lord always." We can have that spiritual joy at all times, because it does not depend on external circumstances that change, but on the love of God for us which does not change. (Phil. 4:4)

The joy Paul is talking about, which is a fruit of the Spirit, is inseparable from the love of God. It actually flows from it. If we find no joy in knowing God as a loving Father, as a close friend, if we find no joy in loving him in return, do we really love God? As we said yesterday, to love God is to delight in him, to want to praise him and tell everybody how great and wonderful he is.

Look at those so-called "born-again Christians." Isn't it striking how they radiate joy, even in the midst of trials and sufferings? The same with our Catholic Charismatics, and for the same reason.

Joy comes with love. When you do something out of love, even if it's hard and painful, you're glad to do it. Love lightens our burdens, as Jesus assured us: "Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you... for my yoke is easy and my burden light." (Mt 11:28-30) Because it's a burden of love. Remember the story of a young man who was carrying his brother on his shoulders. Some passerby asked, "Isn't he too heavy to carry?" The young man replied without any hesitation, "He's not heavy; he's my brother."

Jesus spoke frequently of his passion as something he longed for. It was "his hour." And on Holy Thursday, his hour was at hand and he welcomed it. "Father, the hour has come! Give glory to your Son." (Jn 17:1) Jesus’ passion and dying was the hour of his glory, when he would conquer sin and death and earn our salvation. That's why he could face it with joy in his heart: it was a work of love... for us.

The Apostles, like Jesus rejoiced when they were called to suffer for Jesus’ sake. We have a beautiful example of this in the 5th chapter of the Book of Acts. For the 2nd time the Apostles were arrested by order of the Jewish High Priest. They were thrown into a public jail. The Jewish authorities even considered killing them. Finally, not knowing what to do, they had them flogged and released them with the injunction not to mention the name of Jesus any more. St. Luke concludes this episode saying: "the Apostles left the Sanhedrin full of joy that they had been judged worthy of ill-treatment for the sake of Jesus." We might have expected that they would have felt angry, bitter that God should allow such cruel treatment, when they were doing his work. But, no. They rejoiced because they were suffering persecution for the one they love: Jesus.

That joy is something the world cannot understand. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It enables us to gladly accept sufferings and persecutions, even death, for the love of God.

In the early Church, for some 200 years, Christians were outlawed in the Roman Empire. Every now and then, persecutions would flare up. Many were put to death, thrown to the lions in Rome. Many went to their death singing and praising the name of Jesus. As they remembered Jesus, dying on the cross for them, they were so fired with his love that they were eager to die for him. No cruelty, no amount of pain could deter them or extinguish their joy. Only the power of the Holy Spirit could inspire such joy! Something the world cannot understand; something even less fervent Christians, I dare say, cannot understand. We can only stand in awe and admiration before such heroic love.

A Christian is essentially a joyous person. St. Francis de Sales said it forcefully when he said, "A sad saint is a sorry saint." A poor specimen of a Christian indeed. If I don’t find joy in loving and serving God, can I honestly say that I love him?

Christian joy does not depend on external circumstances, pleasant or unpleasant. This we have seen in the life of Jesus, the Apostles, and the Martyrs. It is founded on God's love for us and our love for him. And God's love for us does not change. That makes it possible for us to love him and rejoice in him in any and every circumstance. That is what prompted Paul to cry out to the Philippians, almost in a triumphant tone: "Rejoice in the Lord always!"

The Christian also finds cause for joy in the wonderful hope he has of going to heaven one day: being with God, with Jesus, Mary and the Saints, our loved ones who will be there. As Paul says, "I consider the suffering of the present to be as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us." (Rom 8:18) For a brief time of suffering and labor on earth, we will enjoy everlasting happiness in heaven! Christians can find great joy and strength in their glorious hope of everlasting life.

Christianity is a religion of joy. The Gospel is GOOD NEWS. It begins with the birth of Jesus and the proclamation by the Angel of God: "I bring to you good news that will bring great joy to all the world. This day, in the city of David, a Savior is born." (Lk 2:10-11) And it ends with the joy of the Resurrection. The whole message of Jesus is salvation, the revelation of the Father's love: Good News. The whole Gospel is a message of JOY FOR ALL MANKIND.

The sad thing is that so few Christians experience the Gospel as Good News. By observing them, you might think it's bad news! Hardwork, suffering, a kill-joy! What a caricature of Christianity! Such Christians, who live religion of fear, always worrying about sin, their salvation, are poor specimens of a Christian and, alas, they turn people away from religion.

A famous German philosopher of the last century, Nietzsche, who was not a believer, once spoke these terrible words, which are the worst indictment of the kind of Christians we are talking about: “How do you want me to believe in their salvation? They look so little like people who are saved!”

If we really believe in Jesus Christ and all he did to save us, and to earn for us everlasting life, and “life abundant” even here on earth, we should be so happy, joy-filled people that all who see us would have to notice it and wonder: what makes those people so joyous all the time? Yes, all the time! That’s the miracle. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is joy!

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