A Joyous Heart

The Father’s love sweeps the earth like an immense wave; and with his protective wings, He envelops and embraces all creatures. This is the definite reason for joy among the sons of men.

And Jesus displayed a vast range of parables, eulogies, and comparisons to show that the Father loves us freely. Such an exceedingly optimistic message can only spring from and so we always affirm that the Gospel is a hymn to joy.

However, the Gospels present Jesus as a man burdened with suffering. In effect, there are glimpses by which we may intuit that Jesus was familiar with suffering and that he possessed such knowledge about pain that only an experience of pain could give. This is the reason for His capacity for compassion; because only he who has suffered much can be so compassionate.

From the book “The Art of Being Happy” by Father Ignacio Larrañaga