More on Joy

After writing the Blog on Joy yesterday so much more started to dawn on me, about the importance of Joy, what it means to me personally, how it lessons temptations and more importantly what it means to those around me, how Joy makes life more agreeable for everyone! But some Philosophical points to ponder that have hit me on joy recently,

1.) Joy is something received, Because its a gift from God. This should give us great comfort because its not something that is based upon our worthiness. We don't have to feel that we need to make ourselves perfect, we don't have to become self-actualized. Because its a gift, its not performance based. Joy doesn't happen only if we are pristine and holy.
Here's why- A Gift is something that is Free, with no strings attached. We can't earn a gift, we can only be thankful for it. If Joy is a gift, then its really more about the Giver than the it is about us!
2.) We should have Joy for a very specific reason. Jesus loves us passionately and personally, we are His. He has earned our Joy, so we just need to receive it and love it.

If Joy is about receiving the gift, than the question becomes how do we receive it? The answer is Prayer and surrender, placing our whole life on the alter at Mass and giving everything to God, our worries, our fears, our weakness, and letting Christ transform us.

3.) If Joy is so important and we can only receive it, than its imperative for us to create space everyday where God can simple love us, where He can simply delight in us as His. Its as difficult and as easy as that, we have to set aside time for prayer, a time to be loved by God. He is our Father, so we should never be afraid during these times of prayer to ask for Joy. Its good for us and good for others!