Called to Joy

so saith this priest:

...Saint Thomas Aquinas listed eight Capital or Deadly Sins rather than our list of seven.  He maintained that sadness was the worse one of them all.  The famous poet Dante, in his Divine Comedy, placed sadness at the lowest level of hell.

Joy is not to be understood as something superficial or immature.  The person who is filled with Christian joy possesses an immense treasure because the true Christian can smile and laugh even in the middle of the most terrible adversities and sufferings.

Let us recall the words of G.K. Chesterton when he affirmed that “The Catholic Church is like a thick steak, a glass of red wine, and a good cigar.”

Hillaire Belloc confirmed the same idea when he said that “Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, there’s always laughter and good red wine. At least I’ve always found it so. Benedicamus Domino!...”