How do children of God find joy? Dr. Bailey reviews Chris Stefanick's book | Plus, link to new RHP videos on YouTube
Google Doc: editable "Joyful Mysteries" booklet for 1st Saturday Devotion in September and more...
ETERNAL WISDOM:
FROM CHRIS STEFANICK’S COURSE ON FINDING JOY:
RULE #1: GRATITUDE (Give Thanks)
RULE #2: SILENCE (Practice it)
RULE #3: LOVE YOURSELF
RULE #4: Have Fun
RULE #5: Engage your Body in the Battle for Joy
RULE #6: Make Friends
RULE #7: Rest
RULE #8: Serve
RULE #9: Frame Your Mind With Faith
FOCUS: Jesus is the Journey1
THE ROSARY HOUR PODCAST NEWSLETTER [1st Edition, EASTERN STANDARD]
[REVIEW: THE ROSARY HOUR PODCAST NEWSLETTER, by: Dr. Tina Bailey, The Rosary Hour Podcast 27 August 2023
“LIVING JOY”, by: Chris Stefanick
PUBLISHER: EMMAUS ROAD PUBLISHING, STEUBENVILLE, OHIO (2020)
ISBN - 978-1-64585-081-6 (hard cover) see: emmausroad.org
“When you live in joy, you have Godlike strength for every decision you make, every encounter you have, and every battle you face in life.”
-- Chris Stefanick
Chris Stefanick is a charismatic voice in Catholic ministry.
His energy and dynamic videos/presentations, like “The Search” and “The Chris Stefanick Show” suggest that he has indeed unlocked a source of deep inner joy, and is eager to share the joy of his faith.
Stefanick’s book, Living Joy (2020), reads like a pep talk from a trusted friend, but with biblical and research references to support the practical advice.
The call to live in joy is heartfelt and feels as urgent now as when it was written, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stefanick acknowledges the difficulties of life, the anguish we may face, and that we most certainly will lose our health and loved ones at some point. Yet we can live in the joy of faith, even through pain.
This Joy is not the transient feeling of happiness or a passing pleasure in life, though we can agree that an embodied life includes these experiences; what Chris is discussing is a path toward a deeper joy that has to do with confidence in God’s love and His plan for us. This joy wells up as a deeply peaceful, reverent state. We find it by diving deep, below the easily disturbed surface feelings and responses, to a more stable sense of meaning that keeps us on course. There are practical ways to promote more of this deeper appreciation of Living – outlined in 9 seemingly simple steps. Deceptively simple, because if they were easy, we would rarely find ourselves as overwhelmed by the world as we often do.
Living Joy builds on Saint John Paul II’s Angelus reminding us that
“Faith is our source of Joy. We believe in a God who created us so that we might enjoy human happiness – in some measure on earth, in its fullness in heaven. We are meant to have human joys: the joy of living, the joy of love and friendship, the joy of work well done. We who are Christians have a further cause for joy: like Jesus, we know that we are loved by God our Father. This love transforms our lives and fills us with joy…”
Our spiritual lives are connected to some extent with where we allow our mind to linger, and our bodily experiences, which is why Stefanick offers chapters on practicing gratitude and service, and embracing silence and rest, alongside reminders to engage our bodies toward joy, self-love, and framing our mind toward faith. This last ‘rule’ or practice, Frame Your Mind with Faith, is key in how we see everything else, so that we become ‘new creations’ (2 Cor 5:17), able to experience the level of joy Jesus came to share. Having fun and making friends also make the list, reminding us how important these are beyond our preschool years!
Joy becomes something active, a verb, something we practice as part of our faith. Stefanick uses the analogy of fighting for the Joy to which we are entitled, and encourages us to harness this power of joy to enter the battles of life, in order to live fully and… joyfully. Living in the joy of faith makes our daily choices, and life choices, easier, and more aligned with God’s will for us. In several instances, Stefanick points out how one of the suggested ‘rules’ for joyful living opens up a space for ‘something more’, the deeper experience of the beauty of life and the deepening of our faith that would otherwise be drowned out by the incessant ‘noise’ of modern life.
Chris unpacks some powerful lessons about what we really need and why, and relates them to his experiences in travelling and sharing his mission of ‘a bold, contagious faith’, as well as Jesus’ teachings. He presents the ‘Temptations’ that we face head-on, dispelling myths that might derail us – for example, the illusion that we should strive to be ‘all-knowing’ in the information-saturated world we live in, and forget what is worth knowing. Echoing Saint John Paul II when he said, “We do not pretend that life is all beauty. We are aware of darkness and sin, of poverty and pain,” Stefanick also acknowledges the challenges we’ll face, in our health, in our marriages, with children, or in the sense of helplessness we feel in light of great suffering and poverty in the world. We are seeking to realize a deep Joy that gives us strength to serve, and to unite our suffering with that of Jesus in His sacrifice for us.
Joy is an ‘easy’ end-of-summer / back-to-school read, but with ideas and examples that will linger; and this is what our spiritual growth requires – stumbling on the right voice, and the right wisdom just as we are receptive to its impact.
Stefanick provides a guidebook to realizing what Saint John Paul II calls “that holy human joy that was God’s gift to you.”
Stephanick’s Living Joy is not a self-help book that demands we toil to ‘fix’ our issues to move forward; it is a set of practices that will help us move in the direction of deep joy, with God’s help, and alongside our loved ones and communities. He speaks of the ‘soil’ in which various virtues grow, calling to mind an image of both cultivating and tending joy, as we would a garden, so that we can grow with resilience into the roles God intends for us.2
Sometimes in our reading and interactions there is a useful cross-pollination of voices; Cardinal Collins emphasized our embodied state in his discussion on the Soul with our RHP team. As Stefanick notes in his writing on the physical body, we are not pure spirit, and can harness all that we are in the battle for a deeper spiritual joy. I also appreciated his emphasis on the connection between Rest and developing of higher culture, through time spent on study, storytelling and religion; Jessica Hooten-Wilson also argues for the value of the Humanities in our spiritual development.
The Rosary Hour Podcast Newsletter & Host of Bookshelf, Dr. Tina Bailey
THE DIGITAL TOOLKIT FOR ROSARY LEADERS: SEASON 2
LINK TO THE RHP DIGITAL TOOLKIT for ROSARY LEADERS BOOKLET:
BOOKLET #1: “THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES” (Posted 14 August, 2023)
Pastors can review the prayers with Rosary Formation team for September 2023.
Pastors can share this document with families wanting to learn how-to-pray a Rosary as a family; parishes can invite community members to partake in Family Rosary / Community Rosary on Saturday mornings in honour of Our Lady and/or before the Sat. PM Vigil with this ready-to-use / ready-to-go document.
THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES (w/ FÁTIMA PRAYERS curated by: Pe Nuno Rocha (English Translation) & reviewed by Fr. Charles Nahm)
Download this “editable” document. (CLICK HERE OR below: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18Wg9r3Zb9E0crRoedzjsFoue-vFzCYkzL3xi0moEhFA/edit?usp=sharing)
FIRST SATURDAY DEVOTION COUNTDOWN LINK:
RHP readers can bookmark this monthly reminder to participate in First Saturday Devotion.
If you are in the GTA for Labour Day weekend, consider visiting Holy Rosary Church to unite in prayer and fulfill all the requirements for First Saturday Devotion. Doors open at 8H00.
8H15-8H30
Sacrament of Reconciliation begins
8H30 Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary with Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on prayer card curated by Fr. Peter;
9H00 Mass in honour of Our Lady and to repair the blasphemies against her Immaculate Heart;
9H30 Holy Eucharistic Adoration (Benediction with Fátima Prayers and Reflection on the Mysteries of the Rosary for 15 minutes with Fr. Peter) to fulfill the Request of Our Lady of Fátima to spend time with Our Lady.
9h45 etc. Benediction ends with the Salve Regina, sung here in this NEW video by Padre Nuno’s Parish choir at LAPA.
More on this video in a future post.
Click to watch our latest video and Season 2 primer with special appearance by Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC.
MORE BACK-TO-SCHOOL INSPIRATION FROM CHRIS STEFANICK
CLICK »HERE« TO WATCH [24:00 minutes] “What Do You Seek?” | The Search | Episode 1 - The Search • 24m | SHOW HOST: CHRIS STEFANICK
In Episode 1, we open hearts with a look at the question “what do you seek?” What is that deep longing in our hearts all about? We’re all living for something, and we all strive for that something out there that is ultimately going to make us happy. But what is it? For some, this question is on their minds every day. For others, life goes by in a flash without even asking the question.
ABOUT: THE “FORMED” COMMUNITY
FORMED is a streaming platform where people digitally encounter the teachings of Christ, His Church, and the riches of Tradition adapted to the modern day. It is a place where people can share their passion for the Gospel and be nourished together through learning, watching, listening, and reading. FORMED is a family-friendly community designed to upbuild the Church in love and truth.
MORE ETERNAL WISDOM: LUMEN GENTIUM FOR 27 AUGUST 2023
The Church is a sheepfold whose one and indispensable door is Christ.(26) It is a flock of which God Himself foretold He would be the shepherd,(27) and whose sheep, although ruled by human shepherds; are nevertheless continuously led and nourished by Christ Himself, the Good Shepherd and the Prince of the shepherds,(28) who gave His life for the sheep.(29)
Assim a Igreja é o redil, cuja única porta e necessário pastor é Cristo (Jo. 10, 1-10). E também o rebanho do qual o próprio Deus predisse que seria o pastor (cfr. Is. 40,11; Ez. 34,11 ss.), e cujas ovelhas, ainda que governadas por pastores humanos, são contudo guiadas e alimentadas sem cessar pelo próprio Cristo, bom pastor e príncipe dos pastores (cfr. Jo. 10,11; 1 Ped. 5,4), o qual deu a vida pelas suas ovelhas (cfr. Jo. 10, 11-15).
AND
Often the Church has also been called the building of God. (34) The Lord Himself compared Himself to the stone which the builders rejected, but which was made into the cornerstone.(35) On this foundation the Church is built by the apostles,(36) and from it the Church receives durability and consolidation. This edifice has many names to describe it: the house of God (37) in which dwells His family; the household of God in the Spirit;(38) the dwelling place of God among men;(39) and, especially, the holy temple. This Temple, symbolized in places of worship built out of stone, is praised by the Holy Fathers and, not without reason, is compared in the liturgy to the Holy City, the New Jerusalem (5*). As living stones we here on earth are built into it. (40) John contemplates this holy city coming down from heaven at the renewal of the world as a bride made ready and adorned for her husband.(41)
A Igreja é também muitas vezes chamada construção de Deus (1 Cor. 3,9). O próprio Senhor se comparou à pedra que os construtores rejeitaram e se tornou pedra angular (Mt. 21,42 par.; Act. 4,11; 1 Ped. 2,7; Salm. 117,22). Sobre esse fundamento é a Igreja construída pelos Apóstolos (cfr. 1 Cor. 3,11), e d'Ele recebe firmeza e coesão. Esta construção recebe vários nomes: casa de Deus (1 Tim. 3,15), na qual habita a Sua «família»; habitação de Deus no Espírito (cfr. Ef. 2, 19-22); tabernáculo de Deus com os homens (Apoc. 21,3); e sobretudo «templo» santo, o qual, representado pelos santuários de pedra e louvado pelos Santos Padres, é com razão comparado, na Liturgia, à cidade santa, a nova Jerusalém (5). Nela, com efeito, somos edificados cá na terra como pedras vivas (cfr. 1 Ped. 2,5). Esta cidade, S. João contemplou-a «descendo do céu, de Deus, na renovação do mundo, como esposa adornada para ir ao encontro do esposo» (Apoc. 21,1 ss.).
AND
The Church, further, "that Jerusalem which is above" is also called "our mother".(42) It is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless Lamb,(43) whom Christ "loved and for whom He delivered Himself up that He might sanctify her", (44) whom He unites to Himself by an unbreakable covenant, and whom He unceasingly "nourishes and cherishes", (45) and whom, once purified, He willed to be cleansed and joined to Himself, subject to Him in love and fidelity,(46) and whom, finally, He filled with heavenly gifts for all eternity, in order that we may know the love of God and of Christ for us, a love which surpasses all knowledge.(47) The Church, while on earth it journeys in a foreign land away from the Lord,(48) is like in exile. It seeks and experiences those things which are above, where Christ is seated at the right-hand of God, where the life of the Church is hidden with Christ in God until it appears in glory with its Spouse.(49)
DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH LUMEN GENTIUMSOLEMNLY PROMULGATED BY HIS HOLINESS POPE PAUL VI - ON NOVEMBER 21, 1964
A Igreja, chamada «Jerusalém do alto» e «nossa mãe» (Gál. 4,26; cfr. Apoc. 12,17), é também descrita como esposa imaculada do Cordeiro imaculado (Apoc. 19,7; 21,2. 9; 22,17), a qual Cristo gamou e por quem Se entregou, para a santificar» (Ef. 5, 25-26), uniu a Si por um indissolúvel vínculo, e sem cessar «alimenta e conserva» (Ef. 5,29), a qual, purificada, quis unida a Si e submissa no amor e fidelidade (cfr. Ef. 5,24), cumulando-a, por fim, eternamente, de bens celestes; para que entendamos o amor de Deus e de Cristo por nós, o qual ultrapassa toda a compreensão (cfr. Ef. 3,19). Enquanto, na terra, a Igreja peregrina longe do Senhor (cfr. 2 Cor. 5,6), tem-se por exilada, buscando e saboreando as coisas do alto, onde Cristo está sentado à direita de Deus, e onde a vida da Igreja está escondida com Cristo em Deus, até que apareça com seu esposo na glória (Cfr. Col. 3, 1-4).
CONSTITUIÇÃO DOGMÁTICA LUMEN GENTIUM SOBRE A IGREJA; https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_po.html
FOOTNOTES
https://coaching.reallifecatholic.com/living-joy. Note, Dr. Bailey’s review provides a basic review of this list of “Rules” which comprise the “primer” for a course on “joy” and is a preliminary investigation into joy that engages a wider audience. We further focus on the Joyful Mysteries to provide more opportunities to develop joy (allegria) through the prayer of the Holy Rosary and through the contemplation of the mysteries on Saturdays, especially recommended, especially as we approach Our Lady of Sorrows.
My kids would say it’s advice from a trusted ‘uncle’ as Chris S. bears an uncanny resemblance to their real Uncle Chris!