ROME — Pope Francis told a group of young people from Belgium on Monday to be joyful since joy is a hallmark of true Christianity.
The pontiff urged the young people to ask themselves what their contribution is to a joyful Christian community, insisting that they must be bearers of joy to the world.
“There must always be joy, because, you know, Christians with a funeral face will not do, they are not Christians,” he declared. “If you are Christian, you will have joy.”
This was not the first time the pope said Christians should be known by their smiles.
“No one has ever heard of a sad saint or a saint with a funeral face,” Francis said back in 2014.
“Unheard of! It would be a contradiction. A Christian is a person who has a heart full of peace because he knows how to find his joy in the Lord even when passing through difficult moments of life.”
“The human heart desires joy. We all want joy–every family, every people aspires to happiness,” he said.
“You no longer need to look elsewhere!” Francis continued. “Jesus came to bring joy to all and forever. This is not only a joy to be hoped for or postponed for paradise, as if we were to be sad here on earth but in heaven we will be joyful. No! This is not it, but a real, present joy, because Jesus himself is our joy,” he said.
Pope Francis hoists the Gospel book during a Chrism Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Christ “is the goal of the human heart that seeks joy and happiness,” he said.
The following year, the pope returned to the same topic, calling joy the ID card of a true Christian and “the touchstone of a person’s faith.”
“Without joy that person is not a true believer,” he said.
It is not “cold doctrine” that gives joy, he declared, but rather faith and hope to meet Jesus. And it is a “sad believer” who cannot rejoice, he added.
“The Gospel is not a bag of lead one drags around arduously,” he said, “but a font of joy that fills the heart with God and impels it to serve one’s brothers and sisters!”
Again in 2020, Francis urged Christians to wear the joy of the resurrected Christ on their faces, bearing witness to the hope the gospel brings.
“The closer the Lord is to us, the more joy we feel; the farther away he is, the more sadness we feel,” he insisted. “This is a rule for Christians.”
“I do not understand how one can believe today, because those who say they believe have a face from a funeral wake,” Francis said, citing an unnamed philosopher. “They do not bear witness of the joy of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Pope Francis celebrates Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the occasion of the solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, patrons of Rome. Vatican City, June 29th, 2022 ( Grzegorz Galazka/Archivio Grzegorz Galazka/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty)
“Many Christians have that face, yes, a face from a funeral wake, a face of sadness,” the pope continued. “But Christ is risen! Christ loves you! And you have no joy?”
“Think well today: how do I behave? Am I a joyful person who knows how to transmit the joy of being Christian, or am I always like those sad people, as I said before, who seem to be at a funeral wake?” he asked. “If I do not have the joy of my faith, I cannot bear witness and others will say: ‘But if faith is so sad, it is better not to have it.’”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.