I had the sweetest moment with my daughter this weekend. She has been doing an interdenominational Bible study with a group of friends. They decided to read Philippians together. (Just one of the many reasons I love Tennessee, impromptu Bible studies.) She needed to wrap up her reading over the weekend and asked if I wanted to read along with her and discuss. (Which I said yes to, of course.)
We had a great discussion, but one of the things that caught my eye was how many times Paul tells the Philippians to rejoice in this short little 4 chapter book of the Bible:
In Chapter 1: “What a difference does it make, as long as in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed? And in that I rejoice. Indeed, I shall continue to rejoice, for I know that this will result in deliverance for me through your prayers and support from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” Phil 1:18-19
In Chapter 2: “But, even if I am poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with all of you. In the same way you should also rejoice and share your joy with me.” Phil 2:17-18
And again: “He was indeed ill, close to death; but God had mercy on him, not just on him, but also on me, so that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow. I send him therefore with greater eagerness, so that, on seeing him, you may rejoice again, and I may have less anxiety.” Phil 2: 27-28
In Chapter 3: “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. Writing the same things to you is no burden for me but is a safeguard for you.” Phil 3:1
In Chapter 4: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: Rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near.: Phil 4:4-5
And again: “I rejoice greatly in the Lord that now you revived your concern for me. You were, of course, concerned about me, but lacked an opportunity.” Phil 4:10
The Holy Spirit was drawing my attention to this word and the many ways Paul uses it. The rejoicing is directed to the Lord, but it is related to a friend being cured of illness, it is related to sacrifices in the service to others, it is related to being supported in prayer for whatever we face.
I found myself asking: Do I rejoice? Who do I know who rejoices? Do I know anyone? How often do I rejoice? What would qualify as rejoicing? How about rejoicing enough?
I suppose there are general moments in the day where something might really delight me and in that moment I am rejoicing in the Lord–a sunset, during family dinner when I marvel over my children and their conversations, or other times at Church when God so clearly touches my soul I could nearly cry (and sometimes I do).
But Paul’s letter challenged me here. He seemed to be constantly pointing to rejoicing. I asked the Lord, if I was hearing correctly, is that the invitation–rejoicing always in You?
The very next day, God answered through the book I am reading Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay (Ignatius Press): “What we do find over and over is that deepening prayer is to be common property of everyone. These biblical men and women found more joy in Yahweh than others could possibly know in their worldliness. They exulted Him with endless shouts of joy. They rejoiced deeply in their Lord. So profound was their union with God that they delighted in nothing else on earth; their very hearts and flesh pined with love for Him; their joy consisted in nothing other than in being close to Him.”
Endless shouts of joy–we just don’t see this today. You might even be reading this thinking, like I am, people would be freaked out if I was letting Alleluias and Praise the Lords loose all day, every day. And I guess that’s what has happened.
We have decided we don’t have to rejoice always. There are more important things to do, and now since it’s not common practice, we have an image to uphold.
But, say you won the lottery or some other big grand movement takes place in your life, that would be OK, right? To be like shouting for joy in the moment–you would be calling people and continuing to shout for joy, right? It wouldn’t be weird to be screaming at the top of your lungs, letting the world know something good has happened to you.
Imagine if that was how you were about Jesus or about Mass? Calling up your friend…(Imagine yourself yelling this crazy excited, whooping it up): GUESS WHAT? I was at Mass and witnessed a miracle! He has SAVED me. Jesus was PRESENT in the Eucharist and I received HOLY COMMUNION. Can you believe it? I am UNITED TO JESUS!!! AAAHHHHH!
And then your friend on the other end of the line, starts screaming right along with you! And you start making all these plans for how you are going to live with Jesus right there inside of you and how she is going to benefit from this miraculous treat as well.
You are REJOICING! Why aren’t we more like that on Sundays?
In other more common moments, there are glimpses of rejoicing, maybe sometimes directed to the Lord, but not always: a college admission, a clean bill of health, a pregnancy, an engagement.
What is all this rejoicing about? It’s about newness of life–a new chapter, a new lease on life, an actual new tiny human.
This recognition of the start of something new gets to the heart of rejoicing and helps us understand what the people of the Bible understood. God offers a constant newness of life–from creation in Genesis to a New Jerusalem in Revelation. The Bible knocks us on the head with reasons to rejoice day in and day out.
Jesus gave us sacraments to experience this newness of life as well. He gives us constant reasons to rejoice. But why aren’t we rejoicing?
This led me to think of heaven and maybe rejoicing has been reserved for heaven. I was once told by a priest that heaven is joy so powerful you literally cannot remember the past. You are absorbed into the joy–you become it and it becomes you. Obviously, major rejoicing.
However, based on what I’m learning from Fire Within, rejoicing is meant for earth too. It is really up to us, if we want to get close enough to God that we cannot contain our emotions, but instead the Spirit takes over. It’s up to us if we want to detach from things to make more space for God. It is up to us if we want to experience freedom in loving God so much that we forget even ourselves.
And when that happens. We will rejoice!
REJOICE!
Leave a Reply