Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/1056515
17 Joy that Shows Marshall Shelley, DD Director of Doctor of Ministry Program and Associate Professor of Pastoral Leadership and Ministry "I n a few days, we will have the joy of celebrating the Lord's birth … the manifestation of the love of God who does not limit himself to give us something or to send us some message or some messengers, but gives himself to us; the mystery of God that takes our human condition and our sins on himself to reveal his divine life to us, his immense grace and his gratuitous forgiveness." at's how Pope Francis, a few years ago, addressed the Curia, his church leaders, before warning them of certain spiritual dangers leaders face. One of the dangers he named was "the sickness of the mournful face" or believing that to be serious they must exhibit a melancholy or severe face and treat others with rigidity, harshness, and arrogance. "In reality," he said, "theatrical severity and sterile pessimism are often symptoms of fear and of one's own insecurity." Instead, each person must force himself or herself "to be a courteous, serene, enthusiastic and joyful person who transmits joy wherever he is. A heart full of God is a happy heart that radiates and infects with joy all those around him: it is seen immediately!" en Francis suggested that we remember the prayer of omas More: "Lord, give me a good digestion and also something to digest. Give me health of body and the good humor necessary to maintain it. Give me, Lord, a simple soul that is able to make a treasure of all that is good and is not astonished in view of evil but rather always finds the way to put things back in place. Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumbling, sighs, laments, and do not permit me to trouble myself with that very cumbersome thing called 'I.' Give me, Lord a sense of good humor. Grant me the grace to understand a joke, to discover in life a bit of joy, and to make others part of it. Amen." "I pray it every day," Francis said. "It does me much good." e joy of Christmas is an everyday reality. To remind me of that wisdom is one of the reasons I sign each of my emails with the complimentary close: Grace, strength, and joy, Marshall Shelley. "AS SOON AS THE SOUND OF YOUR GREETING REACHED MY EARS, THE BABY IN MY WOMB LEAPED FOR JOY. BLESSED IS SHE WHO HAS BELIEVED THAT THE LORD WOULD FULFILL HIS PROMISES TO HER!. - LUKE 1:44-45 12 December