the path to true happiness
“The desire for God is written in the human heart….Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for…” CCC #27
The question then is how do we find God in our day to day existence? Fr. Robert Barron, a current-day theologian with a very practical sense of spirituality says this:
Ever since we were children, the culture has drilled into us that we are not happy because you don't have all the things we want to have. It says: You will be happy only when you have so much money, or so big a house, or so much respect.
And what follows from this? Life becomes a constant quest to get, to attain possessions.
What makes us truly happy? Being closer to God… Forgetting our ego and its needs and desires, opening our eyes, minds, and hearts, and letting reality in. What makes us happy is always right in front of us, because what makes us happy is also what makes us most like God …. LOVE, willing the good of the other.
Next time you're unhappy, here's what you do: you love. When you're feeling miserable, write a note to someone who is lonely; make cookies for your kids; visit the nursing home; donate some money to a charity; sign up to help with an after-school program; say a prayer for someone who's in trouble.
Love is not a feeling. It's an act of the will, and it's a great act of dispossession. This is the wonderfully liberating path of holiness that Jesus wants us to walk. It’s the message of the Beatitudes. He wants joy for us. But the path to joy is the path of detaching ourselves from getting and acquiring.
“The Beatitudes confront us with decisive choices concerning earthly goods: they purify our hearts in order to teach us to love God above all things.” CCC #1728
The question then is how do we find God in our day to day existence? Fr. Robert Barron, a current-day theologian with a very practical sense of spirituality says this:
Ever since we were children, the culture has drilled into us that we are not happy because you don't have all the things we want to have. It says: You will be happy only when you have so much money, or so big a house, or so much respect.
And what follows from this? Life becomes a constant quest to get, to attain possessions.
What makes us truly happy? Being closer to God… Forgetting our ego and its needs and desires, opening our eyes, minds, and hearts, and letting reality in. What makes us happy is always right in front of us, because what makes us happy is also what makes us most like God …. LOVE, willing the good of the other.
Next time you're unhappy, here's what you do: you love. When you're feeling miserable, write a note to someone who is lonely; make cookies for your kids; visit the nursing home; donate some money to a charity; sign up to help with an after-school program; say a prayer for someone who's in trouble.
Love is not a feeling. It's an act of the will, and it's a great act of dispossession. This is the wonderfully liberating path of holiness that Jesus wants us to walk. It’s the message of the Beatitudes. He wants joy for us. But the path to joy is the path of detaching ourselves from getting and acquiring.
“The Beatitudes confront us with decisive choices concerning earthly goods: they purify our hearts in order to teach us to love God above all things.” CCC #1728