"Listen, I bring you news of great joy."
Joy is the transparency of grace,
the overflow of Christ's presence into us,
into the lives of others.
Joy is a gift, the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
"Christ's joy is the sharing in the unfathomable joy,
both divine and human,
which is at the heart of Jesus Christ glorified."
The deep, quiet joy of the gift
of goodness of life,
of one's family and friends,
of loving and being loved,
of holiness,
of the Eucharist.
We were created for joy!
Silence is the language spoken by solitude. There is something awesome and breathtaking about real silence; it is numinous, pulling us out of self-containment and calling us toward the invisible. Spiritual seekers "home in" on silence as homing pigeons to their roost, because therein lies the language for personal communication with the sacred. Silence accompanies us into our innermost selves where we are present to the sacred. When word breaks into that kind of silence, there is communion.
~ from THE LANGUAGE OF SILENCE by Peter-Damian Belisle, thanks to Br. Xavier
