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The joy of the early Christians – which can be experienced in every century, wherever people understand and sincerely live the essential truths of Christianity – the joy of the early Christians was something totally new, a joy they had never experienced before. It had nothing to do with laughter, cheerfulness or being light-hearted. As Paul VI said – it was not merely “the exultant joy of being alive,” with “the peaceful joy of nature and silence.” … It wasn’t that. These are all wonderful examples of joy.

But the joy of the early Christians was different. It was similar to the exhilarating joy of the disciples when the Holy Spirit descended on them.

It was the joy of Jesus. For just as Jesus has his peace, he also has his joy.

The joy of the early Christians sprang forth spontaneously from the depths of their being and truly satisfied them.

They had found what people in the past, in the present and in all times are always searching for. They had found God; they had found communion with God. They were totally satisfied by him, totally fulfilled as human beings.

In fact, Christ pours love, charity, into the hearts of Christians through baptism and the other sacraments, and love can be compared to a tiny plant. The deeper its roots go down – that is, the more we love our neighbours – the higher the stem grows upwards towards heaven. In other words, the more we love our neighbours, the more our heart is filled with the love of God. And this communion, this love, is not something we believe on faith alone. We experienced it. This is true happiness, this is real happiness – to love and feel that you are loved.

This was the happiness of the early Christians. This was the joy of the early Christians, both adults and young people, like all of you. They expressed their joy in wonderful, liturgical celebrations filled with hymns of praise and thanksgiving.

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Chiara Lubich

(To access the complete text: https://chiaralubich.org/archivio-video-it/la-gioia/)
Photo: © Archivio CSC Audiovisivi