In and out of the faith

[catharina]

I think it could be said that peace is an element of happiness but while perfect happiness is not achievable outside of the beatific vision, peace in the midst of life’s storms is a great blessing which our faith affords us. But in any case it might be relevant here to point out that happiness is Gods’ ultimate goal for us and His gospel exhorts us to taste it here as well. The less attached we are to worldly things and the more childlike our approach to God- the more we are turned towards Him in general- the greater our happiness will be. The words “beatitude” and “beatific” are both defined, in part, by happiness. The Church acknowledges and addresses mans’ God-instilled desire for this in her catechism:

**II. THE DESIRE FOR HAPPINESS

1718 The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it:
We all want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this proposition, even before it is fully articulated.13
How is it, then, that I seek you, Lord? Since in seeking you, my God, I seek a happy life, let me seek you so that my soul may live, for my body draws life from my soul and my soul draws life from you.14
God alone satisfies.15

1719 The Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude. This vocation is addressed to each individual personally, but also to the Church as a whole, the new people made up of those who have accepted the promise and live from it in faith.

2548 Desire for true happiness frees man from his immoderate attachment to the goods of this world so that he can find his fulfillment in the vision and beatitude of God. "The promise [of seeing God] surpasses all beatitude. . . . In Scripture, to see is to possess. . . . Whoever sees God has obtained all the goods of which he can conceive."344

**

Thank you - and far be it from me to disagree with the Catechism.

My own generation has been raised with the notion of the Beatitudes as “Blessed are the … .” although the separate translation of “Happy are the …” is in place too.

Again, I’m reaching way back into the Baltimore Catechism of the 1940s and the teaching that we are to “know, love and serve God in this world and to be happy with Him in heaven.” My reaction to the notion of Americans’ legal rights to pursue happiness is likely over-reactive. Saying that, I’m also called to say that too many, especially in this country, seem willing to equate happiness with having their own desires fulfilled and their comfort assured. My generation was raised to expect sacrifice as a way of life and the pursuit of sanctity as a common goal. So I’m probably incapable of understanding any insistence of having prayers answered according to my will. Hope that makes some sense to you.

Again, a big thank you for adding to my understanding.

 

[jmeyer3131]

I’m also called to say that too many, especially in this country, seem willing to equate happiness with having their own desires fulfilled and their comfort assured.

Exactly. Which might be one reason there seems to be so much general unhappiness. There will always be some desires not fulfilled, some comfort not attained.

Yet I’m at fault, too. I know people who have gone through all sorts of trials and handled them with dignity, remaining close to God and, through that, appeared happy, even joyous. Yet during the worst of my trials, I was miserable and unable to keep my faith strong.

I’ve learned a lot, but I’m still not at all certain, despite the many graces of this past Lent and beyond, that I wouldn’t go right back to what I was if faced with similar trials.

I’d appreciate prayers for the continuing strengthening of my faith.

 

[EasterJoy]

You are unlikely to get people to listen to you if you call them ‘kiddo’ especially if they are 20 years old

Harmony, I’m not 100% convinced people should be listening to me, whatever their age. The OP should have been taking my advice with a grain of salt long before he got to the “kiddo” part!

I thought the “grandma” back was very apt, though. I deserved that!

 

[catharina]

Exactly. Which might be one reason there seems to be so much general unhappiness. There will always be some desires not fulfilled, some comfort not attained.

Yet I’m at fault, too. I know people who have gone through all sorts of trials and handled them with dignity, remaining close to God and, through that, appeared happy, even joyous. Yet during the worst of my trials, I was miserable and unable to keep my faith strong.

I’ve learned a lot, but I’m still not at all certain, despite the many graces of this past Lent and beyond, that I wouldn’t go right back to what I was if faced with similar trials.

I’d appreciate prayers for the continuing strengthening of my faith.

Prayers for you, yes.

 

[CB_Catholic]

Sometimes (and I am speaking for myself as well) I think we get into the habit of doing too much in our spiritual lives. We get caught up in all sorts of things in order to get our prayers answered, or we spend a lot of time talking while praying. We never seem to shut up. There are hundreds of novenas, devotions, prayers, spiritual readings, etc. that we get into, and when we don’t see results in either what we asked for or in our personal satisfaction, or in our spiritual growth, we say God does not hear us, or He is not interested, or whatever. We want to place the blame on God.

Now how can God possibly get through all that noise? It’s just like trying to have a meaningful conversation with someone with the TV blaring, the radio on, the kids screaming, etc. We sometimes need to shut up, quit the frantic praying, spiritual reading, etc. and just sit still in His presence and just BE. Just listen. There is nothing wrong, of course, with all these things, and they are very good, but we need to balance this with silence.

Yes, Jesus says to be persistant in our prayer, but He also shows us that there is a time to just let go and let God do His work, and surrender ourselves to His Will. Just be silent and listen. Do we not remember that Jesus was mostly silent during His Passion and Crucifixion? He only spoke when He felt it was absolutely necessary for a reason. He had surrendered His Will to that of the Father’s. He listened to His Father. That is what we need to do. And God will take care of us, in His way.

 

[fhansen]

Thank you - and far be it from me to disagree with the Catechism.

My own generation has been raised with the notion of the Beatitudes as “Blessed are the … .” although the separate translation of “Happy are the …” is in place too.

Again, I’m reaching way back into the Baltimore Catechism of the 1940s and the teaching that we are to “know, love and serve God in this world and to be happy with Him in heaven.” My reaction to the notion of Americans’ legal rights to pursue happiness is likely over-reactive. Saying that, I’m also called to say that too many, especially in this country, seem willing to equate happiness with having their own desires fulfilled and their comfort assured. My generation was raised to expect sacrifice as a way of life and the pursuit of sanctity as a common goal. So I’m probably incapable of understanding any insistence of having prayers answered according to my will. Hope that makes some sense to you.

Again, a big thank you for adding to my understanding.

Thank you, Catherine, but I didn’t mean to imply that you don’t follow the CCC. And you’re right, the modern sense of an “entitlement” to happiness is not what the Church has in mind. In fact, one of the most beautiful things about the Churchs’ teachings is that suffering is acknowledged to be a fact of this life, that it can have value and that God will make it all worthwhile in the end. Partially due to this knowledge we gain the freedom to end the futile search for happiness in created things.

Maybe I was overreacting a bit because I really applaud the Churchs’ emphasis on happiness- she reminds us that not only is happiness a normal desire but it’s also *Gods’ *desire and plan for us- in degrees which are unimaginable -just in case someone gets the notion that our faith is not much more than an austere piety and eternal life not much different from this life.

The lesson this life affords us the opportunity to learn is that the worlds’-and satans’-promises are false while Gods’ are true, and that the nearer we draw to Him, the nearer we come to true happiness-tasting some of it even in the here and now. Adam & Eve gave up the very source of our joy by turning humankind away from God and ever since then we’ve been looking for joy in all the wrong places- while the Church points us back to Him.

It takes some of us-like me- longer than others to come to this appreciation but I guess the struggle with sin and worldly attachments is a part of the process of conversion.