Dear Miguel:

To be joyous and to be able to rejoice at God's grace is not about emotion. Emotions can come and go as they are biologically based. Spiritual Joy does not come from biology, but the spirit. Thus, a person may not "feel" joy emotionally, but have spiritual joy nevertheless.

Part of the problem is that people are searching for happiness. As our Blessed Mother told St. Bernadette of Lourdes, "I cannot guarantee you happiness in this life, only in the next."

Mother Angelica of EWTN once said, "Satan promises you pleasure but ultimately will give you suffering. God promises suffering and offers you peace."

We live in a fallen and sinful world. Thus, we must life with the consequences of our own sins, and the sins of others, and the sin of our original parents (Adam and Eve). Life is about suffering, but suffering is redemptive when we give that suffering to Him and join our suffering to our Lord's suffering on the Cross.

To answer you directly, the joy that we can have is in the knowledge of God's love for us, and joy for His will for us. We can be joyous about His will for us because we know that as our Heavenly Father he will not do anything that is bad for us. He knows what is best for us and will lead us into that which is best.

The joy does not come from emotion, but in the comfort of being in the arms of a loving heavenly Father. Even those with Schizoid Personality Disorder (which is a disorder where a person has little to no capacity for emotion) can have joy in God.

So, do not look for an emotional joy, but a joy that is in the soul that comes from the knowledge of God's love for you.

I don't know if this helps or not.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary