HE IS BRING JOY, NOT KILLJOY

I have a friend who has a big appetite, especially for salty and oily food. Every time I have the opportunity to eat a meal with him, I would reprimand him of the unhealthy habit he seems to be developing. I would prevent him from putting too much seasoning on his food or adding chicken oil on his rice, reminding him that doing such practice is a heart attack in the making. In return, he tells me that I am such a killjoy (KJ). How cruel I am to prevent him from enjoying the simple joys of his rather lonely life.

The tenants in the gospel (Mt 21:33-43, 45-46) may have been enjoying the fruits of the field of the landlord. They may have been drinking all night long and do not wish to share the produce of the land to their lord. They prefer to keep it for themselves alone. The joy which the tenants have is not an authentic joy since they have not been rendering to their lord what is due to him. A joy based on lie, deceit, and injustice is a fake joy. The landlord wished to correct it. When the landlord tried to rectify such wrong practices and attitude of the tenants, they resisted and even resorted to violence by killing the landlord's messengers and eventually his son. The tenants may have seen these messengers and the son as killjoy; persons who intend to cut short their merriment. But the landlord is not being killjoy. He simply wanted to bring authentic joy which the tenants can justly enjoy. 

As Christians, we have been enjoying a lot of things and privileges as children of God. Some of us may have been enjoying a sinful life, transgressing the Lord who gives us the gift of life we have. Time and again, the Lord reminds us of our real worth, of the true happiness we can rightly enjoy in our life in contrast to hedonistic and sinful pleasures we may have been immersing ourselves. But when the Lord comes to us, trying to rectify our erring conducts, do we see Him as a kill joy? The Lord wants to bring authentic joy in our life, away from the allurements of Satan that may seem to be joy outside but which rot inside. May we live our life by the joy of the Lord, before its too late; before the Lord takes it from us.