{"id":6011,"date":"2019-12-14T07:47:56","date_gmt":"2019-12-14T12:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/?p=6011"},"modified":"2019-12-14T09:08:15","modified_gmt":"2019-12-14T14:08:15","slug":"joy-means-god-is-near","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/joy-means-god-is-near\/","title":{"rendered":"Joy Means God is Near."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image wpimg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/w_joy.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/w_joy.png 700w, https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/w_joy-300x146.png 300w, https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/w_joy-500x243.png 500w, https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/w_joy-624x303.png 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Webster defines joy as \u201ca very glad feeling.\u201d Theologians, as usual, complicate things by splitting joy in two: sensible joy and intellectual (spiritual) joy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sensible joy is easy to describe. Think of finishing your\nfavorite meal done just the way you like it, or hearing\nyour favorite song by the original band, or the smell of\nlilac on a sunny spring day. Joy may be either the action\nitself (the tasting, seeing, feeling) or the pleasant state\nthat accompanies the achieving of this good thing. (This\nis the stuff we did for five years in the seminary!)\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spiritual joy is different. It may have similar feelings\nattached to it (gladness, cheeriness) but it goes deeper\nthan something pleasing to the senses. It has its origin in\nan awareness of a \u201cGood\u201d that has been obtained through\nvirtuous action.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example swimmers exert themselves for months to train for the big meet. They experience joy when they see their efforts have paid off with their best time ever. The joy is in the awareness . . . \u201cdo you see what you have done? Your hard work has really paid off. You really are a fine swimmer! Let\u2019s celebrate!!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>OR<\/strong>, you stuck with someone who was going through a hard time. Everyone was down on this person and any- one who hung out with them (you). You resisted all urges to run away and you never wavered in your friendship. Suddenly you both realize that this is what friendship really means. This is a joy! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spiritual joy usually comes with some effort of the will,\nsome \u201cdoing the right thing\u201d. With little effort there is\nlittle joy.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>So what are your moments of joy? Of laugh out loud\nhappiness? A sense of wonder at this world\u2019s beauty so\nstrong it makes you choke up? Here\u2019s a few of mine.\nWhat are yours?\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Moments of Joy: <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Playing high school sports. There were moments when the joy of physical exertion and teamwork were indescribable. <\/li><li>21 yrs old. Standing on the 17th tee at Durand Eastman, suddenly knowing that Rochester is where I want- ed to live my life. (How did I know? I just did.) <\/li><li>Handel\u2019s Messiah. Pure joy. Also Samuel Barber\u2019s \u201cAdagio\u201d. I can die in peace. <\/li><li>A dream I had about God a long time ago. I can still feel what it was like. <\/li><li>The change of seasons brings joy (and a sweet sadness sometimes which is a weird kind of joy too). <\/li><li>Many memories of friends and their great kindnesses. <\/li><li>The times (there have been many) of uncontrollable, fall on the ground, close to tears, laughter. <\/li><li>Being a priest and seeing the Faith that crosses your face. <\/li><li>Watching children be children. (A nine year old girl\u2019s giggle . . . how can there not be a God?!). <\/li><li>Knowing (because Christ said so) that it\u2019s all going to turn out all right. Love wins. Darkness and hatred are on the losing team. Let\u2019s spend this life doing the things He asked of us. This purpose in life brings joy. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course all moments of joy are simply a foretaste of the joy the Lord created us to experience . . . . the vision of the limitless beauty and goodness of God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it entered the mind what God has prepared for those who love Him.\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/1corinthians\/2:9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"1 Cor. 2:9 (opens in a new tab)\">1 Cor. 2:9<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two weeks to go &#8230;&#8230;&#8230; wait &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;. Pray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fr. Tim <\/p>\n<a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.holytrinityweb.com%2Fweekly%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F6011&#038;t=Joy%20Means%20God%20is%20Near.&#038;s=100&#038;p&#091;url&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.holytrinityweb.com%2Fweekly%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F6011&#038;p&#091;images&#093;&#091;0&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.holytrinityweb.com%2Fweekly%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F12%2Fw_joy.png&#038;p&#091;title&#093;=Joy%20Means%20God%20is%20Near.\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.holytrinityweb.com%2Fweekly%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F6011&#038;text=Hey%20check%20this%20out\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-linkedin nolightbox\" data-provider=\"linkedin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Linkedin\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.holytrinityweb.com%2Fweekly%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F6011&#038;title=Joy%20Means%20God%20is%20Near.\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"linkedin\" title=\"Share on Linkedin\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/linkedin.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Joy%20Means%20God%20is%20Near.&#038;body=Hey%20check%20this%20out:%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.holytrinityweb.com%2Fweekly%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F6011\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Webster defines joy as \u201ca very glad feeling.\u201d Theologians, as usual, complicate things by splitting joy in two: sensible joy and intellectual (spiritual) joy. Sensible joy is easy to describe. Think of finishing your favorite meal done just the way you like it, or hearing your favorite song by the original band, or the smell [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-column"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6011"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6016,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6011\/revisions\/6016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}