Joy in difficult times
Every day, we see in the media and on social networks various news and events that have to do with serious problems in society and the world today, such as economic and social crises. Hunger, poverty not only in terms of economic resources, climate emergency, conflicts and wars in different parts of the world, with everything that this implies. Racism, discrimination and so many other problems that discourage us in the face of difficulties and adversities, bringing insecurities and concerns.
Joy in difficult times should be a trait of every Christian and should be noticed in each one of them. Fr. Kentenich affirmed that in an atmosphere of joy every virtue flourishes.
Nowadays man suffers a strong spiritual dislocation, not knowing where to base his spirit. Insecurities and uncertainties arise, a lack of feeling and experiencing a home in his own heart and in the hearts of others.
Father Kentenich tells us that human beings cannot exist without joy and happiness.
This reality invites us to live our Covenant of Love in depth, to cultivate hope and trust in the most heroic and magnanimous Blessed Mother, it challenges us to embody a joyfulness anchored in Mary.
We cannot deprive ourselves of joy
As Mary’s allies, we cannot deprive ourselves of joy and live in discouragement and frustration. We must always cultivate joy in all circumstances, prioritizing what we are and not what we have.
The Shrine is our home. There Mary, mediator of all graces, bestows her maternal heart on us and awaits our surrender and fidelity. Mary, mother and educator, acts in a triple dimension through the three graces of the Shrine (spiritual shelter, inner transformation, apostolic spirit).
The Covenant, source of joy
The founding times of Schoenstatt were also difficult times – we know the history – Father Kentenich knew how to listen to and interpret the voice and desires of God. The founder tells us that human beings cannot exist without joy, without happiness. “He who does not cultivate joy, spoils his character to the core”.
Together with the youth, he sealed a Covenant with Mary asking her to establish herself in the Shrine, making it a place of grace. The Covenant of Love is an original manner of living our baptismal Covenant, “the source of vitality and center of Schoenstatt’s spirituality”.
Mary is the quickest and surest way to bring us closer to the Holy Trinity. She lived in permanent joy, even in times of suffering, transforming pain into joy, difficult to achieve, but possible in the fruitfulness of the Covenant of Love.
Love brings joy; joy is the fruit of love
Father Kentenich tells us that love is the magic wand capable of transforming any sadness into joy. The Covenant with the Blessed Mother is a Covenant of Love, she shelters us and transforms our sorrows into joys. The Covenant of Love gives us the joy of living.
We can ask ourselves: Am I joyful and optimistic, looking at the positive or good side of things? Am I always pessimistic or dependent on my mood? In my family, work, apostolate and environments in which I live, am I a source of joy and happiness? What attitudes do I cultivate so that the Covenant of Love may be a source of joy in my life?
The joy of the Christian is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul tells the Galatians that the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s action is love, joy and peace (Gal. 5:22).
Models of joy
What models do we have to imitate, in order to conquer and cultivate the attitude of joy in a permanent way?
Jesus Christ, the great teacher of joy.
“The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew. In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come”. This is how Pope Francis begins his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, recalling the missionary role of the Church. In the encounter and discovery of the person of Jesus, God made man, is our salvation and with it, our joy.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you (Jn 14:27).
I have told you these things so that my joy may be within you and that your joy may be complete (Jn 15:11).
…but your sorrow will be turned into joy (Jn 16:20).
So you also are now sorrowful, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you any longer. (Jn 16:22)
The Virgin Mary
Mary is a model of joy. In the Magnificat, we see a manifestation of her inner joy and gladness: “My soul praises the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Mary shows what our joy should be like, a joy born from within. Joy and admiration for what God accomplishes in us and through us. Mary, the faithful daughter, trusting and joyful collaborator of the Father’s love.
Father Kentenich invites us to meditate on Mary’s life, her joy, by the light of the mysteries of the rosary.
Mary’s joy: Fiat! It is the hymn of obedience and the hymn of joy.
When we love Mary and live the Covenant of Love, we can affirm that she is “the cause of our joy”.
Father Joseph Kentenich
The founder of the Schoenstatt Movement is another role model of authentic joy. “We know that his life was a continuous joy, because he was intimately united to its source, which is God. He had many of these traits that help to cultivate joy: He was capable of admiration, respect and affection for things and especially for people. He knew how to enjoy the originality of each person. He was capable of becoming a child with children, a fool with fools, a wise man with wise men. He enjoyed the smallest detail, the little things of daily life: he knew how to discover the good, the positive, the funny. He also knew how to laugh out loud. In a word: he was one of the people who knew how to find the true flavor of life” (Reflections Father Nicolás Schwizer).
The Saints
Saints are also models of joy. In the process of canonization, their virtues and their degree of heroism in joy are examined. Followers of Jesus have to be joyful and radiate their joy in every place, circumstance and to those around them.
The joy of the Covenant impels us to our apostolate
With the joy of living the Covenant of Love in depth, a strong awareness of mission grows in us. Awareness of being an instrument to collaborate with Mary in the religious-moral renewal of the world.
Our apostolate, in any of the different possible spheres, demands that we transmit the Schoenstatt charism; we are instruments and as Schoenstatters we should carry out our apostolate, transmitting the Schoenstatt charism, showing the richness of our Movement. To be faithful to the charism willed by God for Father Kentenich and which we have received as inheritance.
It is important that we can transmit joy in each of our apostolic, personal or community tasks.
The joy of hope, trust and practical faith in Divine Providence
I would like to dedicate a few lines to what recently happened in the Shrine Cenacle of Bellavista, just a few weeks ago, when Chile was hit by a strong storm. We are in solidarity with all those affected by this climatic phenomenon. Shocking images showed the damage around the Shrine and to the Shrine itself.
The heavenly days shared during the Jubilee of May 31st are still shining, surely for everyone, especially for those of us who were able to participate in person. It is a mystery, after all that we experienced, to face this situation that, although it may seem different, has much in common. Loyalty and triumph are still standing, fused in the Covenant of Love that endures and overcomes all trials.
Once again, the local and international family is tested, the answer: to renew the Covenant of Love, to rebuild the Shrine in the light of faith in Divine Providence, to say to the Blessed Mother: “Nothing without you, nothing without us”.
Let us go in each other towards the heart of God.
Father Kentenich, in the midst of the hardships of the Dachau concentration camp, was able to transform that hell by the power of joy:
Do you know the land imbued with joy
because the sun never sets there:
where in possession of the eternal goods
all hearts abide in tranquility;
where heart and will are continually refreshed
in the overflowing richness of God’s gifts;
where love’s magic wand swiftly transforms
all gloom into joy?
This wonderland is known to me—
It is the meadow radiantly lit by Tabor’s sun,
where our Three times Admirable Lady reigns
in the midst of her favorite children,
loyally rewarding each gift of love
with the manifestation of her glory
and immeasurably abundant fruitfulness:
It is my home, my Schoenstatt Land! (603)
Let us travel the road of joy together, let us live the Covenant of Love!
Matilde Celina Di Battista
Representative of the Apostolic Federation of Mothers in the International Presidium of Schoenstatt
Translation: Maribel Acaron
