Radiant Joy

"Look to Him that you may be radiant with joy." (Psalms 34:5)

The liturgical year undergoes a cycle of varying emotions which match the season at hand. The hopeful waiting of Advent gives way to the exuberance of Christmas, which soon fades into the somber penitence of Lent. And after Lent comes the splendor of Easter, followed by the zeal of Pentecost and the mysteries of Ordinary Time, which end in triumph at Christ the King Sunday. But one thing that is never absent, during the whole year, is the "radiant joy" of him who knows the love of God. Even in the most desolate, penitential hours of Good Friday, the Christian has cause for joy, because "God so loved the world" (John 3:16). With such knowledge, what can the soul do except sing His praises unceasingly? And so, even in the most barren and devastated moments of our lives, we can maintain the hope and joy that come with knowing Him. And with that continued joy comes trust, and trust is followed by utter abandonment to His will. Because He seeks only to multiply that radiant joy for us; He works so that our "joy may be full" (John 15:11).