Saturday, October 1 : Saint John Chrysostom

“You became imitators of the divine Lord,” Paul says. In what way? “Receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit” (1 Thes 1:6) … Affliction affects the material part of our self, joy shines within the higher, spiritual part. Let me explain myself: life’s calamities are sad and painful but their outcome is joyful, since the Spirit wishes it so. Thus, it is impossible to be glad when we suffer if, on that occasion, we are suffering for our sins; but we will even allow ourselves to be lashed joyfully if it is for Christ’s sake (cf. Acts 5:41). This is what the apostle terms “joy from the Holy Spirit”. We breathe it in those very things that nature rejects with horror. You have been subjected, he says, to a thousand trials, you have undergone persecution, but the Spirit did not abandon you in these trials. As the three children were surrounded by a gentle dew in the furnace (Dn 3:10) so were you in affliction. Most certainly this was not due to the nature of the fire but was caused by the Spirit’s breath. Similarly, it is not in the nature of trials to give us joy so this joy can only come from suffering borne for Christ’s sake, from the divine dew of the Spirit, which transforms the furnace of suffering into a place of rest. “With joy”, he says; and not with any kind of joy but with an unquenchable joy. This is what is to be understood so long as the Spirit is its author.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team