“What is the joy of God? It is to forgive!”

“Instead of imposing new obligations, (Christians) should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet.”― Pope Francis, The Joy of the Gospel: Evangelii Gaudium

Gospel text: (JN 3:14-21)

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

“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.

Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,

but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,

because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

And this is the verdict,

that the light came into the world,

but people preferred darkness to light,

because their works were evil.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light

and does not come toward the light,

so that his works might not be exposed.

But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,

so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

God wants us to be happy. The most elementary psychology tells us that a person who does not enjoy life ends up sick, both in body and spirit. However, our joy must be well founded; it must be the expression of serenity given by a full meaningful life. Otherwise, it would degenerate into superficiality and silliness. St. Teresa, most accurately, distinguished between "holy joy" and a "foolish joy". The latter is only external; it lasts for a very short time and leaves a bitter aftertaste.

The true joy that enlightens our life does not come from our own effort.

St. Paul reminds us that: thanks may be given by many on our behalf for the gift granted us (Col 1:11). Let God loves us and let us love Him, and our joy will be greater this Easter Sunday and all our life, too. And let us not forget to let God come closer to be regenerated by Him through a good confession before Easter.