Weekly Encouragement

Dear Friends,

Even though it couldn't feel any more like summer, my family is already thinking about the new school year. Perhaps you are too, or perhaps you're beginning to organize other plans for the fall. I find myself always living in anticipation, and for Christians, that's only natural. We eagerly await the Lord's return, which will bring to completion the work he began on the cross and in the empty tomb.

But I also need to remember to savor every day, and to enjoy the present moment. Even when it's 107 degrees, I shouldn't wish the time away! As each of you begins to imagine cooler mornings and new adventures that will greet us before too long, don't forget to make the present count. As C.S. Lewis once wrote, the present is where "time touches eternity." There's nowhere else but right here, right now, to choose God's will.

Check out my reflection below on the second fruit of the Spirit, "joy," for further encouragement.

God bless you all!

In Christ,

Andrew Petiprin

Director of Community Life

Neither optimism nor pessimism is a Christian virtue or a fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Church needs optimists, otherwise the assembly of the faithful might become too serious, too cautious, and perhaps even too afraid. The Church also needs pessimists, otherwise we might become too enthusiastic, too naive, and perhaps even too reckless. Remember, Jesus tells us, "Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." Some of us can be both wise and innocent, both optimists and pessimists, but some of us tend more in one direction than the other. That's fine.

What all Christians are called to be, however, is joyful. Like charity, joy is not a word that maps itself onto natural human emotions. Joy is not the same thing as optimism, nor is it the same thing as cheerfulness, delight, or glee. Instead, joy is an experience of heavenly contentment. Joy is a condition of the soul closely related to the great theological virtue of hope, about which our late Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI wrote, "Only when the future is certain as a positive reality does it become possible to live the present as well." In other words, when our faith assures us that Heaven awaits us, life here on earth - both in good times and bad - becomes an unending chain of blessings. The person who lives in the hope that the Gospel is true is a person of joy.

So, whether you're in a fruitful or a dry season of life, whether you're having a good week or a bad one, ask God to increase your joy. Since God wins in the end, claim his victory today too!

Prayer:

Father, today, let your joy be my strength. Draw near and make known to me the path of life, and bestow on me the gift of your salvation. Let me be today an ambassador for your kingdom, bringing joy to the world you love. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.