Converted by joy

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

I’ve come across many individuals on YouTube who narrated their conversion to Christianity and, after becoming a Christian, how they eventually found their particular calling or vocation.  What is unique to them is that they were not converted intellectually or because of the arguments that Christianity or Catholicism in particular is the one true religion (which many conversions usually happen), but they were enticed by the joy they found from Catholics they’ve encountered.  One story is that of Deacon Cole Powers of Toronto, Canada, who shared his story in a homily he gave at a Mass for Vocations in April 2023.

Cole Powers, as of this writing, is a deacon about to become a priest in a few weeks who was attracted to the Catholic faith because of the cheerfulness he saw from a set of guys introduced to him by his Catholic friend, whom he said were “enthusiastic about faith and about life”.  He got curious about the Catholic faith when he saw his friend genuflect (kneel, bending one knee to the ground) inside the church.  Cole was raised as a Protestant, and he had been to a Catholic church only four times in his life, and he went by chance because he had to accompany some kids on an educational tour.  His idea of Catholics, as he saw them on TV and in movies, was that they were people who were unfortunate, gloomy, uptight, and hated people who were having fun.  That Catholics were far from being warm and affectionate.  But when he met some Catholics in a Catholic group at the university where he was studying, he was surprised by how friendly they were, as if they had known him for a long time.

His second encounter with joy was when he met nuns who followed the Carthusian way of life.  He thought these were very serious and ascetic nuns; they must be rigid and unhappy, but to his surprise again, he said they were the happiest people he had ever seen.  He said to himself, “I don’t know what that is that these nuns have, but I want that in my life.”  And so began his journey to the Catholic faith that would culminate in his becoming a priest.

Another story is that of Matt Fradd, the host of the famous Pints of Aquinas podcast in YouTube.  Matt was a non-practicing Catholic when he met a group of young people in Rome in the early 1990s attending the famed World Youth Day, a brainchild of the late St. John Paul II.  Matt said he was moved by the particular joy these young people had that was not found in his usual mates back in Australia. It made him curious about what they were doing as Catholics, and it became an avenue to deepen his faith and discover his vocation to start a podcast on YouTube interviewing influential and sought-after Catholic speakers.

Joy is a requirement for practicing Christians, as C.S. Lewis would say.  Lewis said this based on St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, which insisted about showing joy: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” (Philippians 4:4-5) A Christian who does not radiate joy is surely not an authentic Christian.  St. Teresa of Avila even said that, “A sad nun is a bad nun … I am more afraid of one unhappy sister than a crowd of evil spirits.”  Sadness and devout Christianity simply don’t go together.  Blaise Pascal said, “No one is as happy as a true Christian, or so reasonable, virtuous and lovable.”

Christian joy is a product of a person’s deep love of God in his heart.   If romantic love between two humans can produce ecstatic joy, how much more would the love of God be, who is Infinite, and the author of romantic love. This might surprise many Christians; romantic love is a reflection of the love and relationship God has for us.  In other words, God really wants to marry us, whether you are male or female.  Here’s the passage from Scripture that refers to that marriage between us and us, “As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.”  (Isaiah 62:5) This should not surprise us because the Church is the Bride of Christ and we are the members of that Church.  Therefore, Christ is our common Bridegroom or Husband.  And that marriage will culminate in Heaven where our joy will be made fully complete.