NARRATIO FIDEI: The Joy with Jacky Moura, scj

« My brothers, you will always have your trials but, when they come, try to treat them as a happy privilege».

(Letter of St James 1:2).

«Give to God the cult of love and devotion that we owe to Him, in the temple of our hearts and in our sacred ministries… Our dignity, our happiness are there. Gaudete in Domino. (Phil 4:4.) Rejoice unceasingly in the Lord. Nature proclaims, and seeks the opposite. But nature is corrupt. We should have pity and despise according to their merit, her stupidity and lying impressions. We must pass beyond them and throw ourselves, lose ourselves in the joy of the Lord. Gaudete in Domino.
In our deliberate behaviour we must, through reason, reflection and faith, establish ourselves in the joy of the Lord. Gaudete in Domino, in such a way that on reflection we will be indifferent to success or lack of success, to poverty, or wealth, and even happy in all the trials, in the footsteps of our Divine Saviour.»

DS

Narratio... I have always been afraid of diving head first into the swimming pool. So you must admit that to dive as we are being asked to do here...? How can we “dive headlong, get lost in the joy of the Lord” even if the prospect is exciting? What a joy to bathe in such a beneficial ocean?

Straightaway, I wouldn’t say OK to St James’s suggestion and I would much prefer to hear the Lord’s Words like “I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete” (Jn 15:11) and “no one can rob you of this joy” (Jn 16:11). Yet, I know that Jesus pronounced these words at a time when he and his disciples were going to face the sufferings of his Passion and death. And I had to take time and endure storms before seeing in my life the signs given to me like a bath of joy which henceforth are to constitute the environment of my life.
Now I notice that the signs of this joy are given me in the celebration of the sacraments. I celebrated my First Masses in a camp for Youth Eucharistic Movement at La Font Sainte, the project of which was to enter really into a Eucharistic life; the celebrations took place in a real climate of joy, praise, sharing, and adoration which lent colour to how I celebrated. To see the joy on the face of a man or a woman receiving the mercy of the Father has become for me an occasion for openness to the Love which was being manifested.
Seeing the reactions of an infant to the actions and words of his Baptism and feeling him participating really in the event which is opening him to the presence of the Trinity filled me with amazement.
Have moments of friendship, of real communion in such and such a situation, or share moments of real wonder during a concert or a nature reserve.
That’s where I find St Michael’s language: “Let’s render to God the love and devotion which we owe him in the temple of our hearts and in our holy ministries.”

The real cult consists in letting ourselves be captivated by the profound joy of discovering the marvels which the Love of the heart of our God produces. We are to settle down in this amazement (not smugly for it cannot last!). For me and after long searching and a variety of experiments, my personal prayer has become a safe resting place where a meeting may be discovered in the opening up of the temple of my heart, my soul within me where “the ever present God” awaits me and where the constituent elements of my life are diffused into my daily life, “our daily bread”. There you have the spring where I can constantly get that living water to irrigate my heart and bring to fruition the fruits of holy joy. There opens up within me unbounded possibilities for joy which will throw a light and trust on how I regard reality. For events and situations and everything that the news bulletins can throw at us breaking down our quest for serenity and peace. Suffering, violence, sickness, death, injustice and wars offer their contradictions. Counselling families in bereavement, especially in painful situations as for example suicides of youth, or sudden illness in a family, the awareness and revulsion in the face of the many examples of injustice have obliged me to dig ever deeper within myself. This is what St Michael has to say: “nature makes proclamations and seeks out opposites” and St Paul: “From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth, and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first fruits of the Spirit.” (Romans 8,22),

It is a question therefore of founding and constructing our life on the Rock of absolute trust in the Love whereby I am loved. “Our external and internal conduct in order to find rest in such happiness,” “Reason, reflection and acts of faith are the three ingredients which St Michael suggests. There is no secret; other people’s experience is a priceless resource either in our relations or in our readings. I have recently been given the latest book by Christian Bobin called “L’Homme-Joie”, a real little treasure. I have just finished reading “Sagesse d’un pauvre” by Eloi Leclerc; and I am in the course of reading a book by Jean Clapier (a Carmelite whom I met in Pau). The title of his book is “Itineraire Pascal de Therese de Lisieux” another treasure!

In our daily life we also have countless opportunities of joyful meetings. As we reread and comment on the chapter dealing with “Fraternal life in Community” in our rule of life , with the novices we notice the tiny events which have been instrumental in the evolution and progress of fraternity in the community which we seven religious form here in Bethlehem, with our diversity of ages, cultures, and personal history. We have enjoyed them together like the little treasures of joy which they really are.

I shall finish with the closing sentence of St Michael’s text about what St Ignatius calls indifference. Joy can lead us to be “indifferent before success or failure, poverty or riches, and even to be happy and proud in all our trials in following our Divine Saviour”. I believe that this is the summit of a deep joy. Everybody knows what it is that produces bitterness, moroseness (one has only to think again of the remarks concerning the weather this Spring!), acedia1 in our lives. As well as the “I’m fed up”! “Fed up to the back teeth”! etc... showing signs of failure! To rejoice in the Lord helps have the necessary distance so as not to make a song and a dance of a situation, to be at peace and have the happy measure of our feelings. When Christ faced the trials of his Passion, after the agony in Gethsemane, he shows that deep peace linked to the trust which he feels towards his Father.
To finish I must tell you of my joy during a medical visit when the Cardiologist diagnosed me with an enlarged heart: I simply blurted out: “That’s good news! It is a recommendation of our Founder!” She took a moment or two before appreciating the point!

Thank you for wanting to share my joy!

Father Jacky spent his childhood in different villages in the Pyrenees before ending up at Lestelle-Betharram where the Apostolic School accepted him for the whole of his school career. Later on his various missions took him to other regions of France, then to other countries and even to other continents: Bordeaux, Morocco, Limoges, Ivory Coast, Pibrac once, and the Generalate in Rome, Pau, Pibrac twice, and finally the Holy Land. The calls to “Here I am” are many and varied: master of scholastics, provincial, facilitator of formation sessions, postulator, community superior, general assistant and secretary, master of novices, reviser of the Rule of Life. Wow! What a CV you might say! Those who don’t know him might even say that this Jacky is a super active individual, dying for functions and posts of responsibility! Those who know him are not going to find him among these adjectives. Super-active, no! Greedy, certainly not! Just a trifle greedy, but for the best dishes and good books! Ready to launch out on new highways and super thoughtful, Yes! In a word, he is inquisitive about everything, desiring to have better knowledge, to understand better, to deepen his knowledge. He is caring of man today not only through his readings, but also through meetings, through listening and sharing. Finally, Jacky is primarily someone with a large welcoming smile, with a good dose of self derision and good humour.