Dear Friends in Christ,
Rejoice! Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
Throughout the season of Easter, we experience such great joy. In our daily liturgies we rejoice continuously with psalms of praise and thanksgiving as we celebrate Christ’s victory over sin and death and the promise of eternal life. And this joy is more than a mere natural state of happiness. It is a deep and profound interior sense of peace. It is a realization of God’s presence with us through the indwelling of His Spirit. And it is a supernatural gift essential to our work in the apostolate.
Throughout sacred scripture we are called to rejoice without ceasing in all circumstances:
“Rejoice always.” 1 Thess. 5:16
“This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it.” Ps.118:24
“Rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
“We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance.” Romans 5:3
“Consider it pure joy…whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” James 1:2-3
“Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.” Romans 12:12
St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta emphasized the importance of joy in the work of her Missionaries of Charity with the world’s most destitute , “Joy must be one of the pivots of our life…Joy is prayer - Joy is strength - Joy is love - Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.”
Trials and challenges abound today for all of us involved in the ministry of Catholic healthcare. You might ask - is it actually possible to “rejoice and be glad” in the midst of the relentless assaults on our religious freedom and rights of conscience ? If joy is essential to success in the apostolate, how is it sustained amid the chaos and persecution ?
The answer is found in the final discourse of our Lord with His apostles the night before he laid down His life for us that we might bear good fruit in a life full of joy.
“Abide in me and I in you…He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit…If you abide in me…ask whatever you will, and it will be done for you…By this my Farther is glorified that you bear much fruit…These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” John 15:4~11
As Bishop James Conley, Chair of the CHCLA Episcopal Advisory Board is fond of reminding us, this is the time God has chosen for us to proclaim the Gospel and build His kingdom. So together let us “rejoice and be glad” for the privilege of being chosen to serve in ministry to the sick, proceeding with confident assurance in His Providence and sustained by the Easter joy of Christ risen.
God Bless,
Steven White, MD
President, CHCLA