All this I tell you that my joy may be yours and your joy may be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you.
(John 15: 11,12)

My husband and I have just returned from the Annual General Assembly of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in Canada. Members gathered from across the country, British Columbia to Newfoundland and Nunavut to the southernmost tip of Ontario. We listened, shared, laughed and prayed. We came together as Family to celebrate 170 years of SSVP in Quebec and 400 years of the Vincentian charism and a good time was had by all.

Our theme for the coming year is ‘The joy of serving’, so we heard the word ‘joy’ used in workshops and presentations. Comparisons were made between happiness and joy.

Back home I have had time to reflect on joy in my own life. What has made me happy? What has brought me joy? How do I know the difference?

Happiness is fun, fleeting and forgetful. It is here for the moment and gone tomorrow. I can look back at something that made me happy, smile and move on. Joy, on the other hand, permeates deep within me.

As an adult convert, I remember my baptism clearly, even though it occurred back in 1964. Some of the details make me smile, but the experience of the path to full membership in the Church and the actual sacrament celebrated at the Easter Vigil still move my heart. The joy is with me and will remain in me, perhaps even beyond the time I can remember the details.

Other life experiences are joy filled and joy affirming. Marriage to the man I have walked with for almost 52 years... The birth of our children and grandchildren... The call to serve as Vincentian... These are some of the things that have not just brought happiness, but have continued to bring joy into my life as years pass.

All of the things that bring joy to me share one common thing: They are all about love, love of God and love of others, but mostly they are about God’s great and all abiding love for me, his child. The lines from a communion hymn by Brian A Wren express this well:

I come with joy to meet my Lord,
forgiven, loved and free,
in awe and wonder to recall
His life laid down for me.

May we continue to share our Vincentian joy,

Denise