Joy is one of the most impenetrable and most fascinating mysteries of human nature. It is very closely connected to Love; and maybe it is not an exaggeration to say that both should be written with capital letters when they are found in their most sublime and elevated states, that is, Perfect Joy and Perfect Love, despite the fact that a human creature can have these only by way of participation in Infinite Joy and Infinite Love. 

            It is also worth saying at the outset that Joy is as basic to human life as is Love; Joy directly depends on Love, being its first and most important fruit. 

            Compared with Love, the importance that Joy has in human life tends not to receive much notice. All too accustomed to mediocrity, man’s experience extends, not surprisingly, only to forms of Love which are very imperfect, if not distorted. And the fact that Joy depends completely on Love explains why human nature seldom experiences Joy in other than those imperfect or undeveloped forms which scarcely deserve the name of joy. Thus, it is not surprising that man has become convinced that sadness is part of his normal life. Those who have never experienced Joy are the same people who confuse it with the modest pleasures –so to speak—which only very occasionally spatter human existence.

             Instead of using the expression “Christian Joy” it is probably more precise to speak simply about Joy, without adding any adjectives. Since Christian joy is the only joy which makes real the essence of true Joy, we can fittingly apply to it what was said concerning Love. Taking the concept rather broadly, joy’s position in relation to Christian joy seems to be akin to the relationship between love and perfect Love. Just as perfect Love is the only one that can be regarded as true Love, similarly Christian joy in the only one that can be properly termed Perfect Joy; or, simply, Joy. 

            Moreover, although it is true that Christian joy is the only one that coincides fully with true Joy, it also needs to be said that it is not something that is easy to explain. It can be said with all certainty that those who have never experienced true Joy are in the same condition as those who are deaf or color-blind: it is impossible to convey the relevant concept to them, because there is no reference point to start from. This difficulty reaches a climax when one considers that what is at issue here is a supernatural reality. 

            The problem begins to get complicated once one takes account of the fact that Christian joy occurs in two stages: during the present pilgrimage of Christians on this Earth, when it is a process of development and evolution; and in the definitive stage of abiding in the Homeland or Celestial City, when at last Christian joy attains full maturity and completeness. And if, in the first stage, joy can quite properly be termed Christian joy, it is in this definitive stage where it loses all its adjectival descriptions and becomes simply Joy. 

            Things being so, it is evident that Christian joy cannot be identified with Joy as such. That seems to be the case, indeed, in the present age where it takes the form only of an earnest or first-fruits; as happens also with Love whom Joy always faithfully follows, for the latter derives logically and necessarily from the former. In reality, it could not be otherwise. 

            However, even though that distinction needs to be borne in mind, it seems legitimate to state that Christian joy already, in this age, amply possesses the qualities of Perfect Joy. The same happens to divine-human love: despite the fact that its zenith is attained only in the Kingdom of Heaven, it can also be regarded as perfect at some stage in its earthly development. This idea about Christian joy in the present age is supported by scriptural passages such as John 15:11, which we shall examine later; according to the very words of Jesus Christ, These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full[1].