La joie par la Bible (Joy through the Bible)

It is difficult to find a correct translation. What Madeleine is saying is that we should find joy, true joy by experiencing the Bible, reading and rereading the psalms and especially the Gospels. Discover what real joy means, not the false and cheap joys that the world offers us. Therefore understanding what true joy means. Madeleine borrows many examples from the Old and New Testament to help us understand how true joy enters our heart. The psalms and the Gospels are replete with expressions of joy. Remember Jesus saying: "Do not cry" Madeleine asks us to fully embrace the present time and not take refuge in the past or dreaming of the future, yes be anchored in the present. However the first step is to recognize that we are not pure spirits, we do have a body and we need to take good care of it. A spiritual mind needs a healthy body in order to blossom, eat well, exercise properly will help us attain a higher spiritual level. The second step is to recognize that there are many obstacles to experience true joy: Have a double heart, have two faces, serve two gods, God and the other gods (money, ambition, power...)Only the pure heart can experience true joy. Another obstacle is the impossibility to choose. Procrastinate, unable to choose, accept the compromise. It is time for a clean break. Do not choose the powers of this world, falsity, money... The joy they provide is artificial and ephemeral, rather choose the narrow road.. Look at the nature of the world and our lives. There is a lot of suffering and no life is exempt. The great mystery of suffering: it opens the door to an intense spiritual joy, that is the joy of the presence of God through the cross. At this stage in her book, Madeleine who is always very shy of personal anecdotes, confesses that once she experienced sadness and tears that were metamorphosed in joy. She looked in the other direction (not the one her sufferings pointed at): She followed Christ. It is important to keep in mind the historical context in which her books were written, the rise of Hitler and Mussolini and in the east soviet communism. The dark clouds of war were rising above the horizon. This book has attained a universal quality. 70 years later our world is still embroiled in several conflicts, and a large proportion of the world population is experiencing hunger. Once we have cleansed our heart, we have a pure heart like a child we are able to understand the message of Jesus. And we should nor forget that the mysteries of the Gospel have been hidden to the educated and the scholars but revealed to the children, the poor and the ignorant. The mystery of suffering is that joy is possible despite suffering, joy actually has its roots in the suffering one experiences. Again Madeleine reveals that on a certain Holy Friday an inner voice prevented her from succumbing to sadness and tears and instead led her to experience joy. She became joyful because she became overwhelmed with Love. The psalms are truly a tool to learn true joy. Just reading the psalter teaches us the basics of true joy. But the true joy is Christ himself. Let us recall the joy of Simeon who waited a lifetime to meet the Messiah and finally sees him. Madeleine tells us that as Simeon pressed Jesus against his heart and found true joy, we should press the scriptures against our heart and find also our measure of true joy. We got a great help from the Holy Spirit who was sent to us to give us the intelligence of the scriptures and open our heart to love and joy. The empty tomb is a sign for joyful celebrations because it means resurrection for the christians When Madeleine needed to refresh her mind, she would look at Fra Angelico frescoes and the beautiful landscapes of heaven. Her mind would wander there and refresh itself. Jesus says"Do not cry" several times in the gospels. If God leaves us in the night of our faith, and in the midst of our sufferings, we are able to react with joy. Joy is therefore our shield and weapon against persecution. It is love for everyone, for the entire creation. The key to experience true joy is to follow Christ, become like him whose heart encompassed the entire humanity. Saints have been like projectors of lights among humanity. Prophets have been persecuted because they wanted to draw their countrymen away from their mistakes. The final message of Madeleine: Let us wish to help the wounded souls of our fellow humans.