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Grace_and_Glory
Guest
Do you think God wants us to be happy in this life? I know he wants us to be happy with him forever in Heaven, but the value of happiness in life on earth seems harder to figure out.
On the one hand, we are told to rejoice in suffering. Many saints denied themselves consolations. St. Therese said that she denied herself consolations from early on in her life. Jesus did not promise us earthly happiness but instead told us to take up our crosses and follow him. Hebrews 12:8 says that if we “do not have that discipline [of trials] in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children.” St. Alphonsus said that “it was a great misfortune to be free from suffering in this life…St. Francis of Assisi, on the day that he had suffered nothing for God, became afraid lest God had forgotten him” (The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ). Self-denial and penance are praised again and again as ways to grow in holiness and love for God. It would seem, then, that the less happiness we have in this life, the better off we are.
On the other hand, Jesus also said that he came that we might have life, and have it to the full. He says, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” As Pope, John Paul II went skiing, and he seemed to have a youthful joy even when his body was aging. We are also not to desire suffering for its own sake, because suffering itself is not good, although God works good out of it. Furthermore, Jesus instructs us to pray for deliverance from evil and temptation (which can also be translated as “lead us not into the time of trial”). For all the trials in my life, God has always given me moments of happiness, and I can’t see him providing for so much happiness in my life if he didn’t intend for me to be happy in this life. Even so, whenever anyone tells me, “God wants you to be happy,” it’s hard for me to believe.
On the one hand, we are told to rejoice in suffering. Many saints denied themselves consolations. St. Therese said that she denied herself consolations from early on in her life. Jesus did not promise us earthly happiness but instead told us to take up our crosses and follow him. Hebrews 12:8 says that if we “do not have that discipline [of trials] in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children.” St. Alphonsus said that “it was a great misfortune to be free from suffering in this life…St. Francis of Assisi, on the day that he had suffered nothing for God, became afraid lest God had forgotten him” (The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ). Self-denial and penance are praised again and again as ways to grow in holiness and love for God. It would seem, then, that the less happiness we have in this life, the better off we are.
On the other hand, Jesus also said that he came that we might have life, and have it to the full. He says, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” As Pope, John Paul II went skiing, and he seemed to have a youthful joy even when his body was aging. We are also not to desire suffering for its own sake, because suffering itself is not good, although God works good out of it. Furthermore, Jesus instructs us to pray for deliverance from evil and temptation (which can also be translated as “lead us not into the time of trial”). For all the trials in my life, God has always given me moments of happiness, and I can’t see him providing for so much happiness in my life if he didn’t intend for me to be happy in this life. Even so, whenever anyone tells me, “God wants you to be happy,” it’s hard for me to believe.