The Joy of the Lord Is My Strength

Lea McCarthy considers how a joyful presentation of the Catholic life is a service to others and can help us take the next step after knowing our faith.

“Are you joyful to be Catholic? Then please inform your face!” I heard this quip a long time ago, and though I can’t remember who said it, the message has certainly stayed with me. Not only is it important to love our faith — we need to show by our actions that we love life as Catholics! If we are going about our days looking like we just bit into a lemon and can’t wait for this vale of tears to be over, we might need to rethink our presentation. 

From Sourpuss Catholics, O Lord, Deliver Us

We have all met those Catholics who turn the air around them several degrees colder when they enter the church. They never smile and purposefully avoid eye contact when you try to give them the sign of peace at Mass. To be sure, they have many admirable qualities: they would never dream of missing Sunday Mass, they take time for prayer each day, and perhaps even volunteer on the parish council. But despite their disciplined lives and these excellent traits, you can’t help wanting to shuffle the other way when you see them coming because nothing about their visage makes them seem like they love the faith they are trying to live!  

It's important to not be a sourpuss Catholic for several reasons. First, our kids are little sponges who absorb everything in their environment, mainly knowledge and dirt. Our toddler just started saying “Aw shucks” after she heard her dad say it once (thankfully it wasn’t something less repeatable!). I was surprised that all it took was her hearing it one time to commit it to her memory bank, probably nestled next to other favorite words: “bubble bath” and “kitty.” 

Kids will pick up on the energy you are giving out, and if you are grouchy and frazzled from the hassle of getting everyone out the door for Mass, they may think that you are grouchy because you have to go to Mass and you don’t want to. If they see you are putting effort into living as a joyful Catholic and invite them to get into the spirit, they will remember that too.  

I remember one year for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe after we went to Mass, my mom made some delicious Mexican food, tacked up a blanket with the image of our Lady over the window, and surrounded the table with all the plants in the house. As a final touch, she placed dry ice in a pan of water under the table, turning our dining area into a steamy rainforest. We could practically see the hill of Tepeyac and smell the miraculous roses that had appeared in Juan Diego’s tilma! My mom’s creativity was a great way to commemorate the feast and help us enter into the joy the Church was celebrating. 

Know It and Then Live It 

Another important reason to be a joyful Catholic is that the single best way to attract someone to the Catholic faith is for them to see what you have and want it for themselves. Think about the people in your own life who are Christians on fire with love for the Lord, who radiate goodness and joy in all they do in a very wholesome, natural way. There is something about those people that attracts others like moths to flame. I bet you a dollar that these people that you admire are well-informed about their faith. Scripture exhorts us: 

Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope. (1 Peter 3:15) 

We may not have theology degrees or get paid to be evangelists, but that’s no excuse for us to not inform ourselves and be able to explain why we believe what we believe. But remember, no one’s heart will be converted if we have memorized the Catechism word for word. (And anyway, it’s not us who are doing the converting at all, but God choosing to use us as instruments of His grace.) We must then allow ourselves to be converted and transformed by Christ so that He can shine out in all areas of our lives. 

As wives and mothers, there are many practical ways we can do this. First of all, educate yourself, but don’t do it alone! Learning as a family is a great way to teach kids by example and help them take ownership of their faith at a young age. And then allow the knowledge to transform your heart as you consider what you have to be grateful for in our beautiful faith: the Eucharist, the communion of saints, the traditions, the wisdom through the ages. Keeping those things in mind, who could be a grumpy Catholic? 

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Copyright 2025 Lea McCarthy
Images: (top, bottom) Canva; (center) iStockPhoto.com, licensed for use by Holy Cross Family Ministries