There is a lovely
story about a great western saint, Francis of Assisi. On a snowy, freezing-cold
winter night he was walking down the road in the snow with his companion,
Brother Leo. St. Francis called through the storm, “Brother Leo, do you know
what perfect joy is?”
He said, “No,
Francis, tell me.” St. Francis replied, “When we arrive at the monastery
tonight, if they were to shut the door in our faces, that’s perfect joy. And if
they were to open the door again, grab hold of us, and throw us into a
snowdrift, that is perfect joy. And if they were to tell us never to come back
and send us out into the cold, that’s perfect joy. We must have joy inside, for
if we don’t, we won’t find it even if they were to welcome us, feed us well, and
make us feel loved.”
