Making Room for Joy

One could say that the Lenten season is aimed at having us each grow in our reliance on God’s grace for an increase in our prayer, mortification and almsgiving. St. Josemaria certainly took the opportunity of the season to pray more, sacrifice more and to find ways of giving of himself more generously to those around him. And yet, for him, prayer and penance can precisely make much room for joy.

He wrote in Christ is Passing By, no. 63, “During Lent, when we recognize our sins, our wretchedness and our need for purification, there is also room for joy. Lent is a time for both bravery and joy; we have to fill ourselves with courage, for the grace of God will not fail us.”

I recently heard the following anecdote during a meditation from the life of St. Josemaria that struck me. How flexible he was! And how well he lived his own advice from The Way, no. 179, in the chapter on mortification: “Choose mortifications that don’t mortify others.”

St. Josemaria lived in Rome with a group of men and they occasionally watched movies to relax; St. Josemaria is known to have enjoyed watching his spiritual sons watch movies, even more than he liked the movies themselves. He had previously announced that there would be no movies shown during Lent, as a sacrifice. One of the guys had a birthday coming up, so St. Josemaria asked him what he would like to do for his birthday. The guy replied that he would really like to watch a movie, at which point St. Josemaria looked pointedly at Don Alvaro del Portillo, who simply looked up and away, as if giving permission. St. Josemaria said, “OK, let’s watch a movie.” To which everyone exclaimed happily, “Que padre tenemos!” (What a father we have!)   

And, for when our Lent provides us with passive mortifications (ones we don’t actively choose but instead choose to accept) in the form of slights and misunderstandings, we have St. Josemaria’s experiences about finding joy in the shape of the Cross. During times of grave misunderstandings and even persecution against Opus Dei in the 1940s, he wrote a letter in which he advised:

“Be quiet, be still. Work hard. Forgive. Smile. Pray. And carry your sufferings with joy, because God’s way always passes through the Cross. Put yourself completely in His hands and never forget: God doesn’t lose battles” (St. Josemaria Escriva; December 29, 1947).