“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls”

“If in the work you have difficulties and you accept them with joy, with a big smile, in this like in any other things others will see your good work and glorify the Father. The best way to show your gratitude to God and people is to accept everything with joy. A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love” – Mother Teresa

(Gospel Text: John 3:13-17)

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

"No one has gone up to heaven

except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,

so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him might not perish

but might have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,

but that the world might be saved through him.

What does the world see when you bear your daily cross?

Do they see a suffering person with little hope that God will assist them, complaining publicly about how heavy a cross with which God has burdened them, giving the impression that God has forgotten about their pain? If that describes you, you won't get many questions about your hope in Jesus — at least not from unbelievers. The questions you'll get will more likely come from fellow Christians wondering what happened to your joy.

What does the world see when you bear your daily cross?

Does the world see you walking to Calvary unafraid and uncomplaining, with a grateful heart, suffering yet trusting in God's mercy? When the world sees you bearing your cross like this, it wonders why. It wants to know your secret. "Should anyone ask you the reason for this hope of yours, be ever ready to reply" (1 Pt 3:15).

Embrace the cross the Lord has given you. Let Jesus give you the triumph of His cross in your life.