I should really start baking cheesecake but on this snowy day, I am ever so tempted to curl up on the couch to digest the recently published 224- page (in book form) Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. Okay, I'm being facetious but I am in a reading, reflecting, introspecting kind of mood today. With the opening paragraph started in this manner, I am ready to dig in:
THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew.
I know the joy of the Gospel, I also know the challenge it poses especially when the baggage we all carry weighs that joy down. As we enter the Advent season, that joy will continue to be challenged with frenzied schedules and the enduring noise that will rob us of peace and virtue. It will also be challenged with things/events we have no control over.
The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real danger for believers too.
Okay, so two paragraphs down 223 pages to go! LOL Gah, I might just start working on that cheesecake ;-)
Today, for all 224 pages of this new Apostolic Exhortation, for the reading challenge it presents to my heart, mind and soul, for the Pope, I am truly thankful.
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