Announcing “Project Easter Joy!”

During the Last Supper, Jesus explained to His disciples what was about to occur and then He comforted them by saying, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).

During the darkness of Holy Saturday, I felt inspired to launch a campaign for Easter JOY. We are very well aware that Easter 2020 was celebrated in a most unusual way in many households and parishes all throughout the world. No doubt, we are living in strange and difficult times. Most have said that these are indeed unprecedented times. We could not have imagined any of this. We never expected that a worldwide pandemic would ever happen to us.

Add to that, we have never before experienced a pandemic in our lives and so much has changed. Many of our everyday comforts and routines have been disrupted and suspended. These abrupt changes, which include social isolations and the lack of sacraments available to us has left many people very upset and even afraid. Some people are all alone during this time. And, it’s very unnatural to be isolated from loved ones, especially when their presence is so needed.

Now, More Than Ever

“My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing” (James, 1: 2-4).

Now, more than ever, we need to cling to the promises of our Lord during this Easter season and beyond. We should continue to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and not allow the prevailing pandemic darkness to rob us of our joy!

Did you know that Easter is not just one day of celebration? It lasts for 50 days! Truly! Easter is a continuous season in which Easter is prolonged. The Church teaches, “The fifty days from the Sunday of the Resurrection to Pentecost Sunday are celebrated in joy and exultation as one feast day, indeed as one “great Sunday.” These are the days above all others in which the Alleluia is sung” (Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, 22).

I love what dear St. John Paul II has said about Easter and how we are to behave. He said, “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”

The Holy Spirit Helps Us

Many people are not happy with what is going on right now. The pandemic is horrible. Folks are having trouble feeling peaceful or happy. Sadly, many might give in to despair. Yet, we should remember that there is a big difference between joy and happiness. Joy is not a jolt of excitement, a fleeting thing, or a mere feeling. Joy can’t be conjured up!

Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. We read in Scripture, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23 ).

Saint John Paul II expressed how much the Holy Spirit has helped him. He said:

From the time I was little, I learned to pray to the Holy Spirit. When I was 11, I was feeling sad because I was having a lot of trouble with math. My dad showed me in a little book the hymn ‘Veni Creator Spiritus,’ and he told me, ‘Pray this and you’ll see that He’ll help you to understand.’ I’ve been praying this hymn every day for more than 40 years, and I’ve seen how much the Divine Spirit helps us.

Let’s pray to the Holy Spirit often for help:

Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,

and in our souls take up Thy rest;

come with Thy grace and heavenly aid

to fill the hearts which Thou hast made. 

O comforter, to Thee we cry,

O heavenly gift of God Most High,

O fount of life and fire of love,

and sweet anointing from above.

Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known;

Thou, finger of God’s hand we own;

Thou, promise of the Father, Thou

Who dost the tongue with power imbue.

Kindle our sense from above,

and make our hearts o’erflow with love;

with patience firm and virtue high

the weakness of our flesh supply. 

Far from us drive the foe we dread,

and grant us Thy peace instead;

so shall we not, with Thee for guide,

turn from the path of life aside.

Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow

the Father and the Son to know;

and Thee, through endless times confessed,

of both the eternal Spirit blest.

Now to the Father and the Son,

Who rose from death, be glory given,

with Thou, O Holy Comforter,

henceforth by all in earth and heaven.

Amen.

JOY Each Day

In almost every one of the 22 letters that dear Mother Teresa had written to me, she mentioned JOY. Today, I decided to pull one out of the notebook where I keep them, and snap a photo to include in this blog post. You will notice towards the end of the letter that Mother Teresa wrote, “Keep the joy of loving Jesus ever burning in your heart and she this joy with others.”

That said, during this Easter season and time of pandemic when sadly many are afraid and despondent rather than joyful, I felt inspired and decided to act upon that inspiration to accentuate JOY each day of the Easter season, and hopefully beyond it too.

Since I use Instagram quite often, I will be posting an image and message of JOY each day. I plan to use hash tags with each image. I plan to use the following hashtags: #Projecteasterjoy, #Easterjoy, #Easterpeople, and #hallelujahisoursong As well, I will also post the same image and message on Facebook and Twitter. Please feel free to share and re-post, etc.

In case you are not familiar with hashtags, they are meant to help someone to find things associated with certain topics. For instance, if someone were to plug a particular hashtag into the internet, various items falling under that category would become available.

I will try my best to spread Easter JOY each day, Lord willing! You can do it too! Please use the 4 hashtags that I mentioned above. And, if you’d like, please feel free to tag me on your post. Together, we can help others!

We are the Easter People!

Remember, we are the Easter people! In the words of our dear St. John Paul II, “We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”

So, we must truly BE Easter people and spread our HALLELUJAH everywhere we go! The world needs it!

Mother Teresa reminds us, “Keep the joy of loving Jesus ever burning in your heart and share this joy with others.”