The Lord is good

Taste and see how good the Lord is! (Psalm 34:9)

Man is a rational being. To act rightly, he needs reasons, even in his faith. Consequently, if someone does not have strong reasons for following Jesus, he will be a superficial Christian. A Christian who follows Jesus but stops along the way. A Christian who does not make much progress; who abandons him at the foot of the cross. Those who truly follow Jesus experience his joy. Some people often have a false impression of Christians who are firmly committed to their faith. In particular, there is the impression that anyone who decides to follow Jesus will lead a life full of suffering and that nothing but misfortune will befall them. Such a life with God would be frightening. Many would therefore be right to shun it. One would live with God merely out of a sense of duty. Fortunately for us, following Jesus leads to happiness: ‘In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures for evermore’ (Ps 16:11). God gives joy. He is good. And it is precisely because he gives joy that so many people throughout history have sought him so earnestly. We will seek Jesus with all our hearts if we taste that he is good: ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’ (Ps 34:9). The Psalmist invites us to taste the joy that life with God brings us. This is what will enable us to follow him faithfully. We shall experience joy already here on earth and also in eternity; ‘on earth as it is in heaven’, as the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ tells us. If we do not have this experience of fulfilment and joy in the presence of Jesus, it will be very difficult for us to love him and follow him as he wishes. It will be very difficult for us to fulfil our vocation and our mission. Yet Jesus asks us to love God with all our heart, all our strength and all our soul. St Ignatius of Loyola, when speaking of the joy that God bestows, uses verbs such as ‘to taste the Lord’, ‘to savour the Lord’ and ‘to rest in the Lord’ in his Spiritual Exercises. These verbs convey the joy one experiences in the company of Christ. The New Evangelisation, which was so dear to Pope John Paul II, rediscovers the need to experience the joy that God brings. “You are the Lord; I have no greater joy than you” (Ps 16:2); “You give more joy to my heart” (Ps 4:7).

Just as in all states of life there are people who are unfaithful to their calling, so too there are priests and nuns who do not live out their celibacy very well. But those who live it out truly well have experienced the joy of following Jesus and of living in intimate communion with him. They experience a joy that no human partner can provide. In fact, consecrated persons are prophets of God’s joy and a sign that ‘God alone suffices’. I know, for instance, priests who are very happy to live out their vocation. They share with those who approach them the joy that the world so desperately needs—that joy which comes to them from God. These first fruits of the joy that God bestows are often experienced during spiritual gatherings such as those organised by ‘Parole de Dieu’, but certainly also those of other movements. We often hear the following expressions: ‘I really felt God’s presence’; ‘I wish the retreat could go on for longer, it was marvellous’; ‘We must organise this regularly’.

Each of us, in our own lives, must renew the experience of a God who gives joy, through prayer and intimacy with him. This is vital. To follow Jesus properly, I must be drawn to him, I must fall in love with him, I must experience his joy. Then I will follow him with greater fervour. And then nothing will be able to stop me on the path. With his help, I will be able to brave anything: to bear difficulties much more easily because, beyond the problems, there is the joy that Jesus gives us.

Henri Bayemi