Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
James Martin, S.J.February 26, 2019

Subscribe to “The Examen” for free on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe to “The Examen” for free on Google Play

Join our Patreon Community

Next week we’ll see the end of Ordinary Time and the beginning of Lent. Ordinary Time went pretty fast, didn’t it? Every year it seems to me that, at least as far as the church year goes, Jesus is born, baptized, and barely has time to enter into his public ministry of preaching and healing, before we start marking his Passion, Death and Resurrection. That’s always struck me as odd, since his public ministry was, according to the Gospels, anywhere from one year to three years, and his Passion was three days. In fact, so much emphasis is placed on Jesus’s suffering that we often overlook the joy in his life. But remember: he came, as he said, that our “joy may be complete.” And most of his public ministry, particularly his healings, would have been occasions of great joy. His first miracle, after all, was to make more alcohol for a party! So before we enter the somewhat somber season of Lent, maybe this week you can focus on something else: joy. Where do you experience joy in your life? Where does God bring you joy and where do you bring others joy? Remember the words of St. Paul: “Rejoice always!”

[Don’t miss any of the latest writings, podcasts and videos from Father Martin. Sign up for his newsletter.]

More: Prayer
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
JR Cosgrove
6 years 4 months ago

I suggest everyone read "The Little book of Gratitude." http://bit.ly/2Sq98wZ

Gratitude is the simple, scientifically proven way to increase happiness and encourage greater joy, love, peace, and optimism into our lives.

deglan deg
6 years 4 months ago

That's the best way we can do. Finding our happiness in our ordinary things are the best way to gbe happy all the time. I love spending time around tweaks and mod games from third party apps. That's my kind of happiness, So, I found ignition which is fullfilling my happiness through providing third party paid games for free.

The latest from america

Pope Leo XIV has appointed the French archbishop of Chambéry, Thibault Verny, as the new president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. He succeeds Cardinal Seán O’Malley, 81, the emeritus archbishop of Boston.
Gerard O’ConnellJuly 05, 2025
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks with other members of the House July 3, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington after final passage of U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping spending and tax bill. (OSV News photo/Jonathan Ernst, Reuters)
“Deep cuts” to SNAP and Medicaid will “inflict real suffering on these families…. SNAP and Medicaid are not luxuries, they are lifelines for millions of children across our country.”
Kevin ClarkeJuly 03, 2025
It was one of the first times Leo has spoken unscripted at length in public, responding to questions posed to him by the children.
The Vatican has named the judges that will preside over the trial of disgraced Father Marko Rupnik.