Cardinal Tobin: Jesus Christ is the source of all joy
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Vol. 6. No. 21
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
A personal encounter with Jesus Christ is the source of all Christian joy. But the road to joy isn’t easy. It requires us to face ourselves and our shortcomings, and to overcome many obstacles along the way.
Sorrow and disappointment are a fact of life. Our emotional, physical and even spiritual “hurts” cannot be buried or ignored. They must be suffered. It is only by way of the cross—by sharing in the passion and death of our Redeemer—that we can participate in resurrection joy.
In his first Sunday homily at the beginning of his pontificate (see below), Pope Leo XIV admonishes us to confront the obstacles we face without sugar-coating them, but he assures us that joy is always available to us because of the endless mercy of God. “This is the missionary spirit that must animate us,” the Holy Father says. And, quoting Saint Augustine, the patron of his Religious Order, he adds: “The Church consists of all those who are in harmony with their brothers and sisters and who love their neighbor” (Serm. 359,9).
Where do we encounter Jesus and receive his gift of joy? Certainly, we encounter him in prayer and in the sacraments of the Church. But we are reminded also of the Lord’s powerful words: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40).
Whenever we reach out to others and can move beyond our comfort zones to embrace the poor and the marginalized, we find Jesus. Whenever we “go forth” and embrace the Gospel’s “missionary spirit,” we discover—and can share—the joy of the Gospel.
By helping each other confront our brokenness, we help each other find joy. This is a great paradox. Instead of a frantic, frivolous pursuit of happiness by empty and artificial means, we find lasting joy by better understanding how we ourselves are broken and by extending our arms to others regardless of their difficulties or the demands they place on us. “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me” (Mt 25:35–36).
In light of this profound insight, where is the Holy Spirit opening doors for us here in the Archdiocese of Newark? How are we being called to encounter Jesus, the source of all joy, in the hungry, homeless, sick and imprisoned members of our local communities here in northern New Jersey?
Is the Holy Spirit opening a door for us in the most violent neighborhoods in our archdiocese? Is God calling us to examine the root causes of violence—in families and in society? How do we build healthy family units? What’s going on in the family and in society that is creating such violent, bitter feelings? Too many people today (including young people) don’t understand the value of life and death. Whose responsibility is this?
These are the kinds of questions we are confronting in our new pastoral initiative, We Are His Witnesses. I hope that this process will help us to discover new ways of understanding what it means to be parish communities who collaborate with one another as unified members of a particular Church (the Archdiocese of Newark) and the universal Church.
Collaboration shouldn’t be just a buzz word, something we only talk about. It should be an authentic sign of the missionary spirit that Pope Leo reminds us is essential to who we are as individuals and as the People of God.
Are we moving too fast, working too hard, depending on our own individual efforts rather than on the grace of God working through the community of faith? Such questions are best answered in silent, prayerful reflection. We are being challenged to slow down, to be silent and to pray before we act. We Are His Witnesses urges us to be “contemplative in action,” and to let the Holy Spirit guide us in our efforts to reach out to others (the least of Christ’s sisters and brothers). This is why we pray that we, the People of God, may discern and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is with us, leading us, here in the Archdiocese of Newark. That makes it possible for the Lord’s message of hope and salvation to be delivered with great joy, no matter what is happening in our individual lives, in our families, in our parishes and archdiocese, and throughout the world!
Let’s pray that we will find joy where we least expect it—in the faces of those who most need our love. Let’s pray that we experience joy as though it were a fever that spreads throughout our archdiocese filling our hearts with the fire of God’s love!
Sincerely yours in Christ the Redeemer,
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R.
Archbishop of Newark
Prayer
God of Mercy, you call the Archdiocese of Newark to witness to our faith in Jesus Christ.
As we undertake the journey of pastoral conversion, endow us with your gifts of communion, courage and compassion.
Help us to fulfill the mission of Jesus and his Church through convincing outreach, vibrant parishes and effective ministries. Raise up selfless and energetic leaders to serve the Church with fidelity and zeal.
May we, the Church of Newark in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Union Counties, be sustained and strengthened by your grace.
May we the People of God discern and follow the promptings of your Holy Spirit.
May we your holy people dedicate our lives as firm disciples of Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary, wherever we go.
We ask this and all our prayers through Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Message from Pope Leo XIV: In the one Christ, we are one
Love and unity are the two dimensions of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus.
[By] the Sea of Galilee, Jesus began the mission he received from the Father: to be a “fisher” of humanity in order to draw it up from the waters of evil and death. Walking along the shore, he had called Peter and the other first disciples to be, like him, “fishers of men”. Now, after the resurrection, it is up to them to carry on this mission, to cast their nets again and again, to bring the hope of the Gospel into the “waters” of the world, to sail the seas of life so that all may experience God’s embrace.
How can Peter carry out this task? The Gospel tells us that it is possible only because his own life was touched by the infinite and unconditional love of God, even in the hour of his failure and denial. For this reason, when Jesus addresses Peter, the Gospel uses the Greek verb agapáo, which refers to the love that God has for us, to the offering of himself without reserve and without calculation. Whereas the verb used in Peter’s response describes the love of friendship that we have for one another.
Consequently, when Jesus asks Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” (Jn 21:16), he is referring to the love of the Father. It is as if Jesus said to him, “Only if you have known and experienced this love of God, which never fails, will you be able to feed my lambs. Only in the love of God the Father will you be able to love your brothers and sisters with that same ‘more’, that is, by offering your life for your brothers and sisters.”
Peter is thus entrusted with the task of “loving more” and giving his life for the flock. The ministry of Peter is distinguished precisely by this self-sacrificing love, because the Church of Rome presides in charity and its true authority is the charity of Christ. It is never a question of capturing others by force, by religious propaganda or by means of power. Instead, it is always and only a question of loving as Jesus did.
The Apostle Peter himself tells us that Jesus “is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, and has become the cornerstone” (Acts 4:11). Moreover, if the rock is Christ, Peter must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him (cf. 1 Pet 5:3). On the contrary, he is called to serve the faith of his brothers and sisters, and to walk alongside them, for all of us are “living stones” (1 Pet 2:5), called through our baptism to build God’s house in fraternal communion, in the harmony of the Spirit, in the coexistence of diversity. In the words of Saint Augustine: “The Church consists of all those who are in harmony with their brothers and sisters and who love their neighbor” (Serm. 359,9).
Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.
In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest. For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion and fraternity within the world. We want to say to the world, with humility and joy: Look to Christ! Come closer to him! Welcome his word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to his offer of love and become his one family: in the one Christ, we are one. This is the path to follow together, among ourselves but also with our sister Christian churches, with those who follow other religious paths, with those who are searching for God, with all women and men of good will, in order to build a new world where peace reigns!
This is the missionary spirit that must animate us; not closing ourselves off in our small groups, nor feeling superior to the world. We are called to offer God’s love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people.
Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love! The heart of the Gospel is the love of God that makes us brothers and sisters. With my predecessor Leo XIII, we can ask ourselves today: If this criterion “were to prevail in the world, would not every conflict cease and peace return?” (Rerum Novarum, 20).
(A selection from the homily of Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, May 18, 2025, the beginning of his pontificate.)
My Prayer for You
Please join me in praying for love and unity in the words of Pope Leo XIV:
With the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word, allows itself to be made “restless” by history, and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.
Together, as one people, as brothers and sisters, let us walk towards God and love one another. Amen.