The Easter People

I come to you as a servant of Jesus Christ, and I want to speak to you about him. Christ came to bring joy: joy to children, joy to parents, joy to families and to friends, joy to workers and to scholars, joy to the sick and to the elderly, joy to all humanity. In a true sense, joy is the keynote of the Christian message and the recurring motif of the Gospels. Recall the first words of the angel to Mary: "Rejoice, O full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1: 28). And at the birth of Jesus, the angels announced to the shepherds: "Listen, I bring you news of great joy, joy to be shared by all people" (Lk 2: 10). Years later as Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a colt, "the whole group of disciples joyfully began to praise God at the top of their voices. 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord'!" (Lk 19: 37-38). We are told that some Pharisees in the crowd complained, saying: "Master, stop your disciples." But Jesus answered: "I tell you, if they were silent, the very stones would cry out" (Lk 19 :39-40).

Are not those words of Jesus still true today? If we are silent about the joy that comes from knowing Jesus, the very stones of our cities will cry out! For we are an Easter people and "Alleluia" is our song. With Saint Paul I exhort you: "Rejoice in the Lord always, I say it again, rejoice" (Phil 4: 4).

-Saint John Paul II, Address in Harlem, NewYork (1979)

Papal Intentions for April

Pope Francis's general intention for the month is for the liturgy, "that the public, prayerful celebration of faith may give life to the faithful."

His missionary intention is for mission churches, that they "may be signs and instruments of hope and resurrection."

In this week's general audience address, Pope Francis said:

Let us show the joy of being children of God, the freedom he gifts us to live in Christ…It is a precious service that we give to our world, which is often no longer able to lift its gaze upwards, it no longer seems able to lift its gaze towards God.

Let us pray with Pope Francis, that our liturgy and our mission churches may point that gaze upwards and bring joy to the world. 

And This Joy Endures

Christian joy…springs from this certainty: God is close, he is with me, he is with us, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, as a friend and faithful spouse. And this joy endures, even in trials, in suffering itself. It does not remain only on the surface; it dwells in the depths of the person who entrusts himself to God and trusts in him.

Pope Benedict XVI spoke these words during Advent a few years ago, at a time when the Church was preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ. The reality of the Incarnation brings nothing but joy to a Christian—a blinding and beautiful joy. And the love and mercy which God made Man poured out during his life here on earth and which He pours down from Heaven everyday, makes this joy everlasting.

Why is it, then, that the Mystical Body of Christ is getting smaller in different parts of the world? Take for example, the Church in Latin America. According to a report in July, Catholics made up almost 92 percent of Brazil’s population. Those numbers went down to 74 percent in 2000, and then 64.6 percent in 2010. Countries all over the Latin American continent are seeing a similar decline, and scholars predict that this trend will continue.

Numbers aren’t everything, and they certainly don’t give the Catholic community any reason to lose hope. This decline in the number of faithful Catholics is disconcerting, though. Why is this contagious Christian joy, this joy that endures, losing ground?