If our life of faith has no sense of joy, if it’s mostly a burden then maybe we need to examine our understanding of God. This was the problem of the people in today’s gospel. In their own way, they were deeply religious. Their criticism of Jesus was based upon a misconception of God. Jesus believed and taught that God was a wise and loving Father who wanted his children to experience life at its best. It was a revolutionary concept of God.  No one had ever dared believe this before and I often wonder if we even believe it today.