Jesus said: "I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete." (Jn 15:11)

What is this joy of the Lord? It is not a feeling nor an emotion that is here one moment but gone the next. It is more lasting. It is a gift, a grace, the fruit of living in the Spirit. The source of this joy is Jesus, his life within us, which we share because of his great love for us. The greater our awareness of his presence within us, the greater our joy should be. The fullness of this life of joy will be realized when we are one in God forever in glory. St. Paul encouraged this when he said: "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice." Nehemiah, the prophet, captured the resulting effect of this joy: "Joy in the Lord is your strength." 

We Christians are called to be people of great joy because we know that we have been saved by the blood of the Lord, reconciled and adopted as sons and daughters of God. We share in God's life now, so that we can share in his life eternally.  Does this joy radiate in and through  us to others? Can others see our joy and therefore ask the source of our joy? What kind of witness are we of all that God has done in our lives? If authentic love is a distinctive sign of a true disciple of  Jesus Christ, isn't joy equally such a sign? We don't have to force a smile. We have reason to smile, namely, all that God has and is doing in our lives.