As the blessedness of the life to come is called joy in Scripture, _Good
and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord_, so also--it is in
joy that the happiness of this present life consists. Not, however, in all
kinds of joy, for the _joy of the hypocrite_ is _but for a moment_,[1] that
is to say, lasts but for a moment.
It is said of the wicked that they _spend their days in wealth, and in a
moment go down to hell_,[2] and that _mourning taketh hold of the end of
false joy._[3]
True, joy can only proceed from inward peace, and this peace from the
testimony of a good conscience, which is called _a continual feast_.[4]
This is that joy of the Lord, and in the Lord, which the Apostle recommends
so strongly, provided it be accompanied by charity and modesty.
Our Blessed Father thought so highly of this joyous peace and peaceful joy
that he looked upon it as constituting the only true happiness possible in
this life. Indeed he put this belief of his into such constant practice
that a great servant of God, one of his most intimate friends, declared him
to be the possessor of an imperturbable and unalterable peace.
On the other hand, he was as great an enemy to sadness, trouble, and undue
hurry and eagerness, as he was a friend to peace and joy. Besides all that
he says on the subject in his Philothea and his Theotimus, he writes thus
to a soul who, under the pretext of austerity and penance, had abandoned
herself to disquietude and grief: Be at peace, and nourish your heart with
the sweetness of heavenly love, without which man's heart is without life,
and man's life without happiness. Never give way to sadness, that enemy of
devotion. What is there that should be able to sadden the servant of Him
who will be our joy through all eternity? Surely sin, and sin only, should
cast us down and grieve us. If we have sinned, when once our act of sorrow
at having sinned has been made, there ought to follow in its train joy and
holy consolation.
[Footnote 1: Job xx. 5.]
[Footnote 2: Job xxi. 13.]
[Footnote 3: Prov. xiv. 13.]
[Footnote 4: Ibid. xv. 15.]