"People are made for happiness. Rightly you thirst for happiness. Christ has the answer to this desire. But he asks you to trust Him."

“The human heart desires joy. We all desire joy, every family, every people aspires to happiness. But what is the joy that the Christian is called to live out and bear witness to? It is the joy that comes from the closeness of God, from his presence in our life.” – Pope Francis

Scripture Text: (PS 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9)

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Why are some people so joyful?  And why is it so important that we go to church to express our joy?  The Psalm today calls us to “sing joyfully to the Lord.”  And at the same time, it warns us against hardening our hearts toward God.  That is the challenge, I think, for all of us.  Our hard heartedness keeps us from joyfulness.  It is evident in many ways.  One is in our unwillingness to turn from our wicked ways.  Another is in our inability to love others.  But mostly, it is in our inability to love ourselves – to be joyful!   The good news of the message of reconciliation is Christ living in and among us so that we can more easily over-come our hard-heartedness and be joyful!  Through Christ, we can be more loving, we can be more forgiving, we can be more joyful!  One very basic way we can express God’s love for us is to be joyful!