A Moment of Joy

When Fr. Henri Boulad walked with us here, we were amazed how an 82-years old man could be so energetic. In his lectures, he was as charismatic as always since his youth. In his inspiring lectures, he called for justice to all in the world and particularly in the Middle East where he, as a Jesuit priest, has served both Muslims and Christians tirelessly over the past 50 years.
I felt the same when I watched yesterday the huge crowds of people in Egypt rallying to start a new beginning and the Egyptian army fully supporting them with the brief words of General Al-Sissi followed by words of encouragement by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and the Coptic Christian Patriarch. An inspiration of millions of people, that took place in Egypt in the past 4 days, is based on hope for a better life which translates to better education, an opportunity for a better job and income for the ordinary young person, and building families in a social network worth of human fellowship. 
Egyptians, and indeed all who suffer including many of us in the advanced democracies, must realize that joy can only be achieved after a long journey of patient, collaborative and productive work. This is true in any family, organization as well as government. The temptation for possessing authority, denying the goodness inherent in "the other", and stealing a temporary glory rapes the human person, and society too, of  innocence and takes us back to the sin of pride committed by our first parents and still present in today's economy of greed.  
Hatred as much as love gets stored in memory. It accumulates until the person explodes in violent revenge. Anyone who avenges himself or his beloved does not think that he is doing something wrong. He simply thinks that he is executing justice or retribution. When the Jews killed Christ, they did not think they were criminals but upholding the Law. Although objectively they committed a crime, they nevertheless subjectively thought they were  innocent.

To subdue hatred the person needs to rewire his memory by remembering the good things that his "enemy" or "adversary" did to him because it is impossible in a relationship that my perceived enemy today did not do me some good. God turns evil into good for those who love him.

Another important process must also be established: Learning and imitation. This process continues from the time of birth.  According to Dr. A. Tomatis it starts as early as the fetus is constituted in the womb of his mother. 

This is why we must teach our young ones from the early age to be morally responsible and loving of their surroundings. We too need to be taught by the Church continuously so that we can repent with the assistance of God's grace who works in us and demands that we listen to him in our conscience and in worshiping him individually and in communion with the rest of the community. Imitation is important since we always imitate our model. If my model is someone who wastes his time to get fame, I will also imitate him and if we both find an object that we both wish to possess then we become rivals. 

But if my model is Christ, then I will follow him in loving everyone around me as he loved everyone. How long will this take? A lifetime? My joy can be complete when we have achieved a measure of love.