The supreme law which Jesus spoke about, in fact, in Luke 10:25, remember the young lawyer, or teacher, comes up to Jesus and says, "What do I have to do to be saved, to attain eternal life?"

And Jesus says to him, "What does it say in the law and in the scriptures?"

And then the lawyer quotes from Deuteronomy 6, "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole mind, your whole soul, your whole strength, and love your neighbor as yourself."

And Jesus said, "You have spoken correctly. Now go and do that." That little summary he referred to is the total expression of the prophets and the law, the summation of the law, and the fulfillment of the law. So he ratified what was really in the Hebrew Bible. It is basic to Judeo-Christian teaching. And what is it? Three things: love God, love neighbor, and love yourself.

I'd like to put it in a little different language if I may. I would say: cling to God, think of others, and don't put yourself down. If you can do those three things, you will liberate within your soul all the needless worry that crushes the spirit, and your joy will be free, liberated. And you, yourself, will become a whole new person.

Let me take it one by one and just touch a few things that might be of help for those who are asking, "Well, how do you attain this joy?" In a way, you have to claim it. You have to decide that you're going to be a joyful person.

The first thing I would say is cling to God, and that has to do with prayer. Prayer is speaking to God, but essentially, prayer is giving yourself to God. If you give yourself to God, you begin to understand that true prayer is in the will, not in the feelings, not in the intellect. A lot of times we have a mind that is filled with anxiety, fear, or anger, so emotionally we are not disposed to pray. We feel, therefore; that until we clear the emotions, and then get in the right mood for prayer, we're not really praying well. Or you may sit down to pray to God and find that you're distracted with all kinds of thoughts, inappropriate thoughts, and come away feeling that you're not praying well, that the Lord mustn't be listening to you, that he must be very displeased with you. All of this is nonsense precisely because pure prayer is in the will.

It is in the will to give yourself to God, and you can come to that without any emotional mood swing. It's not a question of your affections. It's a question of whether or not you choose to give yourself to God. The will says "yes" or "no". It has only one function: to say "yes" or "no". If you can say "Yes, Lord I give myself to you with all my confused thoughts, with all my problems, my emotional upheaval, I come to you. You're able to say it. It's not the best prayer that you've been able to pray, or it may not be as good as you think you could do on any given day but it's the best you can do right now. So, there's a certain peace that can come to you from the knowledge that you are praying well. Your prayer is in the will to give yourself to God. And you do that, don't you? You're doing that all the time. You do pray well. You are close to the Lord. He loves you very much. You don't have to win his attention. He's as close to you as your own heartbeat. And so, it's possible to trust his love, even in prayer, and come to the conclusion that you are praying well. Without bragging about it, it's the knowledge that you're in communion with God without any fear, perhaps, of not pleasing him as well as you would like.

The next section: think of others. I really don't have to tell you to think of others. I think you're doing that all the time. If you've raised children or if you've been in a position of responsibility, helping other people, I think that your life has been altruistic whether you realize it or not. When the lawyers came to Jesus and asked, "Who is my neighbor?" He said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." And he told the story of the Good Samaritan. The man was taken by robbers and beaten, and the priest came along and passed him by, and the Israelite came along and passed him by. But the Samaritan, who was an outcast, and a man who was defiled and not allowed in the temple, stopped and picked him up, and he bathed his wounds. And then Jesus said, "Who do you think is the compassionate one?"

The man said, "Of course, the one who took care of his wounds." Jesus said, "Go, and do likewise."

Jesus said, "Go and do." He didn't say, faith alone. Faith in Jesus is necessary for salvation, but when you adhere to the Lord and his words, you know that you're called to love your neighbor. So, I would say that if there's one fruit that can come out of this little talk I'm giving, maybe there's somebody home or anywhere, one of your friends, perhaps, a family member, lonely, lost, sick, abandoned. Make a little resolution that you'll get in touch. Make a phone call or write a letter or do something that would lift their spirits. That would be a very nice gesture, and I think something that you would like to do yourself.

The third and most important, perhaps, for your good, is the issue of loving yourself. Don't put yourself down. How do you go about that? If you don't put yourself down, you begin to learn to live in the present moment. You know, the past can be crushing for some people. So I would say, don't let the past wear you down. There may be things you did in the past which are things you're not proud of, and they may haunt you. But the Lord is merciful. Unless you trust the past to God's mercy, you're going to be destroying your joy in the present moment. Whatever it is that's in the past history of your life, try to think that you have a steel door that you can pull down to keep it from invading your life. So that you can live in the present moment and be liberated. And the same is true of the future. The psychologists tell us that ninety percent of the things we worry about never happen. Whether you're going to be sick or how you're going to handle the future if you do get sick, or will there be a depression or will there be a war or how will this or that work out, you know, those anxieties, if you bring them into the present moment they ruin the day. There's no chance for joy. So, a spirit of joy requires a certain discipline of mind. You have to control your thoughts. Bring that steel door down and try as best you can to be free to smell the roses. Look at the birds, enjoy the sun, smell the fresh air. Life is a gift. It's yours to enjoy. When you reach that kind of maturity, loving your neighbor, loving yourself well, then a new sense comes over you. And that is the idea that you can actually participate in God's love and be an instrument of his love, so that your hands will enable him to express his love through you.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, let me bring faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, let me bring light. And where there is sadness, Lord, let me bring Your joy. Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. And it is in dying that we are born into eternal life. Amen.

And remember, the greatest honor that you can give to Almighty God is to live joyfully because of the knowledge of his love. Thank you and God bless you.

Lydia Talbot: Fr. Catoir, your inspiring voice and faith have reached millions of people through the radio and television programs of The Christophers whose motto is: "Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness." How does that simple, yet radical, empowering message change so many lives?

John Catoir: Well, it's a question of focusing on the positive. Is the cup half empty or is it half full? Better to light a candle than curse the darkness. You know, there's so much bad stuff out there in the world, we could spend a lot of time denouncing it and being preoccupied with it. At The Christophers we had an award program where we tried to affirm the good things that are being done in radio and television and the movies. So, it's a question of focus. How much energy do you have? I think with what you've got, the best thing to do is to try to stay positive.

Talbot: In the awards program, Joan Ganes-Kooney, the founder of Sesame Street, has shared something special with you: that it was The Christophers' message that really led her to her career.

Catoir: Yes, she was a student in Arizona, and she was inspired by Fr. Keller, the founder of the Christophers, with this motto: better to light a candle. She wanted to do something to make this a better world, as all young people do. And she made the connection between the Headstart program and her interest in television and thought: couldn't that be brought to television? And she got, PBS, I think, to take an interest in it, and they began with her, but it didn't go too far until the Muppets got involved. Then it became what it is today.

Talbot: In your earlier message on joy, Fr. Catoir, you begin with the wonderful image that the gift of joy blossoms from a compassionate heart. I guess there are many people who would say, though, where is the joy in the pain and suffering of the human condition? I guess I have to ask you: did you find that kind of joy when you were marching in Selma in the civil rights movement or sleeping with the homeless in New York train stations?

Catoir: It's funny that you should mention that particular thing. A group of us had started a march, and the rednecks had come to close us off. They had clubs, and it was a very dangerous, precarious moment. They weren't going to let us out of the compound, and we were really close to being threatened. Actually they had no interest in hurting us, they just wanted to stop us, but we didn't know what would happen. And I can tell you, at that moment of intense fear, I had an exhilaration. I can see why the martyrs suddenly sang songs of joy. I had never understood that before, but at that moment I did, and I never was going to mention that here, it's just that you brought that up.

Talbot: Incredible mention of what you mean as joy.

Catoir: There's no joy in seeing suffering. I don't mean to say that can be transferred into joy. But there is great joy in being another Christ to bring healing.

Talbot: But in the sense of Christ's Sermon on the Mount, that blessed are those who thirst for hunger and justice and joy in that. I have to ask you about your distinguished career in Catholic communications. You've been the recipient of numerous awards, the prestigious St. Francis de Sales Award for Excellence.

Catoir: I've become very famous! (laughter) A lady came up to me and said, "You're, I know you. You're Father, uh, Father..." I said, "Father Catoir?" And she said, "No." I said, "But I am!"

Talbot: Alright, alright, but, you are now, even in your retirement, busier than ever with St. Jude Media Ministry. Tell us about that.

Catoir: Well, it's a radio ministry. I broadcast between 12 and 6 a.m., in the middle of the night on Westwood One Radio Network, and it's a very simple message. It's a radio spot, actually. Are you feeling down? Broken hearted? Sorry? Sad? Spiritually dry? Don't be discouraged. You're a good person, and the Lord loves you very much. Maybe it's time to come back to the Lord, and let him minister to you. That's what I do.

Talbot: And the response?

Catoir: Well, I'm amazed. I mean, from Protestant, Catholic, to Jew, Atheist, people who are desperate, they're really not interested in institutional religion, but they heard, they heard somebody say, "You're a good person. The Lord loves you."

Talbot: People in crisis, then, are responding.

Catoir: People in crisis.

Talbot: I must ask you, you have said that the priesthood is not what you really wanted to do, that you were called to do it, and you went kicking and screaming to seminary. How was your life turned around?

Catoir: I was in the army when the idea of the priesthood kind of overwhelmed me. I was interested in getting married and making money and being rich and all of that. But somewhere along the line, I found a deep hunger to do something more. It was a terrible price to pay. Celibacy is a terrible price to pay. But that was the way it was laid out for us Catholics. You know, if you wanted to be a priest, that's what it cost. It still is a heavy price to pay, but I never regret it. I'm glad I did it.

Talbot: Well, it's said that you have achieved a level of art in communication that commands respect of millions of people. Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Fr. John Catoir.