“Dear children, I am praying for you and encourage you to a new life, a life in joy and prayer. May the Holy Spirit fill you, little children, with joy so that you may be like a spring of pure and drinkable water; that you, little children, may be, in God and with God, missionaries of love and peace. Your life is short here on earth and that is why I am with you to lead you towards Heaven. Thank you for having responded to my call.” -Our Lady of Medjugorje, in private revelation given to Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti, on April 25, 2026
An excerpt from “Mother Angelica on Prayer and Living for the Kingdom”:
[The early Christians] were free, and that freedom was paid for by the Precious Blood of Jesus (see 1 Peter 1:18-19). Jesus told them, “If you make My Word your home, you will indeed be My disciples; you will learn the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32).
The truth that God lived in these souls through the power of His Spirit, and Heaven was their true home, made these people new men and women. Their minds thought in a new way; their actions were Christ-like; their motives pure; their souls clothed in a faith that moved the mountains of evil around them.
Their whole lives suddenly had a purpose and a mission. They saw God everywhere and in everything that happened to them. Most of all, they now had Someone to follow—a perfect Model by Whom to measure themselves.
Though the Gospels had not been written, each Christian would write down those words of Jesus that appealed to him, memorize them, and then live by them. And Peter and Paul began to write letters that explained the Faith. These letters were copied and passed around as precious treasures.
Jesus had told them that they should dance for joy when they were persecuted because their reward was great in Heaven (see Matthew 5:11-12). That one statement gave meaning to their lives. For centuries, the world experienced pain and suffering without meaning or purpose. Human life was expendable, and compassion was considered a weakness. Sickness and injustice were everywhere, and the law of the land was to survive no matter what the cost.
All pagans came from darkness, lived in darkness, and when they died, the blackest of nights awaited them. The only happiness available [were] the pleasures of this world, and one grabbed as much as he could, for tomorrow he died and there was nothing to come.
When a pagan looked at Israel for hope, he found a semblance of inner peace. However, the Chosen People argued among themselves as to what was to come. Some believed in an afterlife; some did not. To the pagan looking for solutions to his doubts, this was little comfort. No one seemed to have answers to his doubts and questions.
And then a Light pierced the darkness, and although it, too, created a darkness by virtue of its intensity, this new darkness was the kind mixed with awesome mystery, not doubt. It was a darkness that gave direction and peace and assurance, for now the believers held a Hand, and that Hand was God’s. They now experienced a Presence, and that Presence was His Spirit in their souls. Yes, life itself and the world they lived in didn’t change too much, but each one of them [had] changed, and they would eventually change the world.
An excerpt from “Living Joy: 9 Rules to Help You Rediscover and Live Joy Every Day” by Chris Stefanick:
People should see that we actually believe the best news in human history by simply looking at our faces. In short: He is risen. Tell your face.
If we believe the best news in human history, it should shine on our faces. Not if we feel it—but because we believe it. And also, because smiling isn’t just an expression of joy. It’s a source of joy.
Proverbs says, “A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance” (Proverbs 15:13). The science has shown that the converse is also true. A cheerful face makes a joyful heart.
British researchers found that a smile stimulates our brain’s reward mechanisms as effectively as two thousand bars of chocolate. So I guess you don’t have to smile, but you might want to get eating. The same study also found that a smile stimulates the brain’s reward center as effectively, for most people, as getting a $25,000 check. Want to win the lottery? Smile ten times a day, and in a month, you’ll have accumulated as much sense of reward as someone who won $7.5 million.
One Berkeley study on smiling and depression found that smiling in a mirror with a really big smile for twenty minutes a day reduces depression. (I’d imagine that twenty minutes also gives you some pretty buff cheek muscles.)
And, on the plus side, science is finding that smiling, like yawning, is literally contagious. Just thinking about it or seeing it can spread it. So, you can spread all the benefits of smiling by simply doing it yourself. How wonderful.
Mother Teresa once said, “We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” We’re beginning to find out.
“O how sweet it is to serve such a good Lord. But you should not think, dear Sister, that, when I speak about the joy in my soul, this means that I no longer suffer. Oh no, but the more I suffer, the more I feel a longing for suffering; and when we know that the suffering is sent by the One Whom I love, then suffering ceases to be suffering, but becomes rather a delight and happiness.” –Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska (October 20, 1929)
