Joy and Hope for Today and Tomorrow / Ken Ogorek

How do you show joy and hope? As a disciple of Christ, by your witness

(This week, we begin a new monthly column by Ken Ogorek, executive director of the archdiocesan Secretariat for Evangelizing Catechesis, titled “Joy and Hope for Today and Tomorrow.” It explores how the Gospel takes root within our everyday lives and communities, especially through the lens of our archdiocesan pastoral plan, “Go Forth in Joy and Hope as Missionary Disciples.”)
 

How do you show joy? Are you one of those bubbly types? Gregarious? Extroverted?

Maybe you’re more on the introverted side. You feel joy, but it comes off in a quiet, calm, peaceful way. You’re happy, just not openly giddy.

As disciples of Jesus, we’re all expected to feel joy—at least occasionally!

Of course, crosses will be part of our life. But unless we’re in the middle of a bona fide crisis, people should see something different in a good way about us. A basic happiness. A buoyant confidence that all will be well. In a word: joy.

Jesus expresses his hope for us “that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11). Joy and hope are closely related.

Hope is more than mere optimism, as in “the glass is half full.” The theological virtue of hope encourages us to say, “No matter how full or empty the glass is, I know that all will be well. I am at peace because Jesus helps me receive a peace the world doesn’t provide.” (Jn 14:27)

St. Peter takes it a step further. “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope … ,” he says. (1 Pt 3:15)

When your joy is noticed, when your hope catches someone’s attention, you might be asked, “What’s your secret?”

Between Jesus and St. Peter, then, we see that joy and hope relate to telling people about Jesus, to sharing what a difference it makes to have a relationship with him, to asking people if they’d like to experience the same joy and hope they noticed in you—the joy, hope, peace and happiness of knowing the risen Lord Jesus.

Our archdiocese currently operates under a strategic pastoral plan. This plan, under the theme “Go Forth in Joy and Hope as Missionary Disciples,” identifies five key areas of focus for ministry throughout central and southern Indiana during the next three to five years.

This new monthly column will draw from the areas of: 1) Parish Life and Worship 2) Evangelizing Catechesis 3) Stewardship 4) Vocations and 5) Outreach and Ministry—all with an eye toward pointing out how our Catholic faith, on the one hand, affirms what is good, true and beautiful in our cultures while, on the other hand, challenges each of us to make the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ better known and more deeply lived by putting in to action the command of Jesus to “Go … and make disciples … .” (Mt 28:19)

So let us go forth, not waiting in the comfort of our own parishes for new faces to appear at the door, but rather making our faith communities centers of vibrant outreach. Let us show joy and hope, each in our own way, but always such that those looking for truth, peace and authenticity will be inclined to ask us, “What’s the secret of your peace and happiness?”

And then let us be prepared, ready to witness and invite so that all will hear God’s call to a relationship with his Son and the communion of life in the Spirit.

In a word, or two: Go forth!

(E-mail Ken Ogorek at kogorek@archindy.org.) †