It’s a challenge not unlike that which St. Ignatius invites us to in the Spiritual Exercises. Throughout the Exercises, he calls us ever deeper into personal relationship with Jesus. “I ask for what I desire. Here it will be to ask for the grace to be glad and to rejoice intensely because of the great glory and joy of Christ our Lord” (SE 221). He continues, encouraging retreatants to “take advantage of the light and the comforts of the season, for example the refreshing breezes of spring and summer, and the warmth of the sun and of a fire in winter, in so far as the soul thinks or can presume that these things may help it to rejoice in its Creator and Redeemer” (SE 229). Ignatius encourages an embodied experience of faith. The Christ he introduces us to is a person with whom we can laugh and cry, a friend with whom we can commiserate in sorrow and rejoice in gladness.
Elaborating upon Exercise 221 in his book, The Ignatian Adventure, Fr. Kevin O’Brien, SJ, notes that, “The Fourth Week reminds us that death, despair, violence, and sadness will not have the last word: joy does. Walking with the risen Lord, we appreciate how Easter is happening all the time, with joy surprising us everywhere.” Indeed, the Christian journey is not only suffering and tears; our journey ends in joy. St. Augustine said, “The Christian should be an Alleluia from head to foot.” Christ has conquered death.
Can you envision yourself with Jesus and the disciples after the Resurrection when, after the initial shock and awe of seeing the Risen Christ has subsided, you embrace him and each other in sheer joy? Do you feel that joy? Do you hear the ebullient laughter? Isn’t it contagious?