Joy Amid Suffering
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?'” (Matt 16:24-26)
What Is True Joy?
The Shrine’s most recent article on Saint Francis pondered his spirit of joy. His naturally lively personality became, by divine grace, a witness to the deep joy of loving God above all things and in all things.
This joy is easy to explain in theory, but difficult to maintain in practice. Since the Fall, human nature tends toward anxiety and fear, needing the gift of fortitude from the Holy Spirit (Catechism §1808, 1831). When serious suffering comes, simply not losing hope in God’s goodness may take all one’s inner strength. To speak then of love of God bringing joy may sound naïve, sentimental, even insensitive.
Those descriptions would be accurate, if one said that love of God meant a person should never be sad or distressed. Our Lord never said any such thing, nor did Saint Francis, who knew so well that the call that brought him such joy was also a call to take up his cross and follow the Crucified (see Mt 16:24–26). What, then, was Francis’s understanding of joy?
Perfect Joy is Made Perfect in Suffering
Happily for us all, the saint answered this question at length, in his famous “Perfect Joy” speech. This description of joy, far from being emotional or sentimental, suggests that, as God’s power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:9), His joy is made perfect in suffering.
Paralleling 1 Corinthians 13, Francis lists for Brother Leo many wonderful achievements and heavenly gifts which, nonetheless, are not the essence of joy. Instead, he speculates, if he and his companion were exposed to severe pain and thrown out by their own brothers, “and if we bear these injuries with patience without complaining; and if we think upon the sufferings of our Blessed Crucified Lord, then, most beloved Brother Leo, please write down and note carefully that this, finally, is perfect joy!”
Talk like this probably contributed to the idea that Francis was out of his mind. But the man who had known and enjoyed earthly pleasures so intensely was not ignorant about human nature. He was under no illusion that the experiences he described would be delightful. How, then, could he say that bearing horrible sufferings with patience was perfect joy?
Joy Deeper than Emotions
Mother Mary Francis deftly explains this extraordinary Franciscan joy: “He had nothing under the sun but only a Father above it.” (A Right to Be Merry, ch. 1) Francis had put all the desire of his heart in God, and so found that, no matter how much might go wrong, his heart’s desire could never be taken from him. Even if he lost his health, his home, his brothers—the little he still had in the world—the Source of his joy would still be with him. By keeping the eyes of his heart on that Source, he possessed a joy deeper than emotions, rising from love.
One could make a comparison to a husband and wife who love each other deeply. Whether times are easy or difficult, they can find a profound joy in each other. Their mutual love does not take away their suffering, but it gives them an anchor, a treasure at the center of their lives. It strengthens and steadies them, assuring them that, however their circumstances may turn out, this fundamental source of joy remains true.
Even the best and purest spousal love is a humble reflection of the infinite love of the Triune God. The saints’ lives look strange to the surrounding world because they grasped the reality of this inexpressible, overwhelming love. This revelation can radically change a person’s understanding of his life and its meaning, as it did for Francis. Even in the midst of deep suffering, all is not lost: This joy is perfect; that is, nothing can take it away or blot it out.
A Response to God’s Love
This “perfect joy” is not an impossible ideal reserved for great mystics like Francis. It rises from a heart that recognizes and responds to God’s love, which every person alive is called to do. If this joy seems like a distant achievement, we have a heavenly elder brother ready to help us, who came through the loss of his own earthly pursuits to the discovery of joy made perfect.
