The One Cause of Joy

Today's sermon from Fr. Raymond was insistent that there was only one cause of joy. Fear not. It is I. I have overcome the world. You are not insignificant. He knows you intimately like a bridegroom knows his bride. And beware the distractions of daily life that so negate our joy. Many even in the pews, in the Church, here before me today live with a lack of faith. Many feel rejected. Many are caught in the web of relationships, caught in the web of anxieties that would choke the stream of faith. John the Baptist proclaimed the Agnes Dei. It is this Lamb of God who is really present in our world, present in the tabernacles, present in our souls. Jesus, yes, is present even in the most insignificant act of love for He is Love itself. He is present in every struggle for justice, present in all beauty, present in the purity of a soul in prayer, present in ordinary silence....Increase my faith, help me embrace You in all your tender triumphs, Your Love that transforms us. May it be so.