The most joyful of all people are the saints. They were truly and lastingly happy because they had discovered the secret that holiness is real happiness. And they want you to discover it too.

“Let anyone who comes to you go away feeling better and happier. Everyone should see goodness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile. Joy shows from the eyes. It appears when we speak and walk. It cannot be kept closed inside us. It reacts outside. Joy is very infectious.” — St Teresa of Calcutta: (1910 – 1997: Founded the Missionaries of Charity)

Gospel Text: (JN 15:9-11)

Jesus said to his disciples:
"As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father's commandments
and remain in his love.

"I have told you this so that
my joy might be in you and
your joy might be complete."

God created us to be happy by abiding in him. So when we choose our way over his, we are going against our very nature. We are disrupting the flow of love that sustains us and gives us such joy.

The truth is, obedience to God is the exact opposite of wearisome duty. It’s the golden key that unlocks room after room of spiritual treasures. Every saint knew this. Even when obedience was painful and costly, the saints tried to hold fast to God’s will. They knew it would open the way to the deepest longing of the human heart—to be with Jesus. They knew what Cardinal Newman knew: that living like this isn’t burdensome. Instead, as Cardinal Newman tells us, it brings “indescribable joy and gladness.”