At first I thought my experience of joy this Lent was a result of a personal, spiritual break through and my family’s celebration of the birth of a new grandchild. Then, in the last few days, I have seen blogs with titles such as ” My Joyful Lent”. I sense that rather than the typical, melancholy Lent where people try to experience some small piece of Christ’s suffering, joy has exploded in the Church . It has been an example of the unity that is in the Body of Christ. Of course Pope Francis’s example of a joyful life lives in simplicity is at the core of this revolution. On Palm Sunday. Pope Francis confirmed my experience of a joyful Lent this year when he said,
“And this is the first word that I want to tell you: ‘Joy!’ Do not be men and women of sadness: a Christian can never be sad! Never give way to discouragement! Ours is not a joy that comes from having many possessions, but it comes from having encountered a Person, Jesus, who is among us.”
Pope Francis (Palm Sunday Homily)
As a rule, the Catholic Church focuses more on the cross than the Resurrection but as St. Paul reminds us, the cross has no meaning without the Resurrection A contemplation of Christ’s suffering must always be seen in the light of the sheer joy that came when Jesus vanquished sin and death. It is almost incomprehensible that the Almighty God of the Universe took our sins upon Himself and died under the full weight of them.
The Resurrection was a miracle that ushers us straight to the heart of God. Let us rejoice and be glad for “the joy of the Lord is our strength” (Neh.8: 10). Jesus’s joy is our joy, a gift that I cannot refuse, even as I walk through His passion and death.
joy of nine9 
Good post here! It fit in right with what I worked on this Lent. This Lent towards the end of it, has truly been a “happy” and “joyful” one for me. You know, I had to “work” to get myself there. Christ did so much for us, and if nothing else we should “rejoice” in that alone, every moment of the day! Enjoyed reading and God Bless, SR
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GREAT EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE MEMBERS OF THE BODY EXPERIENCED THIS LENT
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Since the theme of my life has been Joy over the past dozen years I am thrilled with Pope Francis first word. May his be a pontificate be one of spreading true joy throughout the world.
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it is exciting to watch joy multiply
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Hi Melanie,
Never have I felt such joy in my whole life! What is going on? At the end of 2012 the Lord impressed upon me that 2013 would be a special year. At first, I thought it was because of the new pope but now I’m beginning to think that it’s a huge outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I wonder how many other people this is happening to?! It’s not everyone unfortunately but it seems to be happening to A LOT of people!
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10 years ago I heard three different protestant Charismatic prophets say that the next great out-pouring of the Holy Spirit would be IN the CATHOLIC CHURCH
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