A Divine Guffaw

There's a kind of laughter that erupts when you glimpse God's plan for your life.

Holy laughter has a way of erupting in the most unlikely places. It's a sound of recognition, the audible gasp of a soul discovering its true north.

The first Jesuit companions understood this peculiar joy. In Alone and on Foot, Brian Grogan tells us that when Diego Hoces found himself chained in a Padua prison cell, his response was neither protest nor despair. He burst into laughter. The authorities had locked him up to stop his ministry, but they couldn't contain his inner joy. Here was a man so aligned with his calling that even imprisonment felt like confirmation rather than contradiction.

Ignatius experienced a different kind of vocational laughter. Once a wandering pilgrim, he had become an administrator. He followed his scattered companions through letters and reports. When these Jesuits returned to Rome with their stories of mission, Grogan notes that Ignatius would greet them with such delight that he'd "lose control of himself and break out in loud laughter."

He told one novice, "Laugh, my son, and be joyful in the Lord, for a religious has no reason to be sad and a thousand reasons to rejoice!"

This isn't mere happiness. It's laughter born of recognition, the deep chuckle that comes when we realize we're exactly where we belong. It’s one of life’s most sacred sounds.