P
Psychotheosophy
Guest
Do you believe in Perfect Happiness?
- Status
M
Morgo
Guest
Yes - in Heaven. Or are you talking about on earth? I believe it is possible on earth too. If you aren’t attached to any sin and let the Lord mold you into exactly the person he wants you to be, how could you not be happy? I don’t know about you, but I find no greater joy than when I am doing what I know to be God’s will for me. If one were to do this all the time, I think maybe they would be perfectly happy.
H
HereticalTheist
Guest
I often think God doesn’t care in the slightest that we are happy. He does care that we are holy, and that we do his will. Look at the example of Jesus. He was obedient to the point of death. But I don’t recall the Scripture ever was referring to Jesus as “happy”.
G
GEddie
Guest
I doubt I could ever see “perfect” happiness until the day I was physically in our LORD’s arms, and rest my eyes on HIS…
ICXC NIKA.
ICXC NIKA.
O
older_mom
Guest
I believe in perfect happiness. I think it is being totally united to God in our minds, hearts and wills. In heaven we will be one with God. We can catch a glimpse of heaven here on earth when we’re doing our best to live the way God wants us to and accepting whatever it is life hands us as His will. We do our best and do whatever we can to change things for the better but ultimatelly trust God to get us through it. When things are most confusing in life I often tell God that I don’t know what’s going on but He does and He’s the one in charge and that is enough. Just as Easter has its roots in the Passion, some of life’s greatest joys and blessings often have their roots in what we thought were the worst times of our lives when we were going though them. Bad times can help us learn and grow and become a better, happier person for having been through them. The peace that comes from living the way God wants us to each day of our lives can be perfect happiness.
R
RBK
Guest
I believe there is a difference between happiness and joy. I’m unhappy when I plan a picnic and it rains, but it doesn’t steal my joy. Jesus said, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
I have perfect joy when I am in a state of grace. That’s what Our Lord promised.
I have perfect joy when I am in a state of grace. That’s what Our Lord promised.
H
HereticalTheist
Guest
I wish I knew what that peace was like! That’s really beautiful and enviable. For me everyday is a constant battle with mental and physical sin, with no relief in sight. It’s unbelievable how tough it is to even catch a breathe when you have to be on your guard to avoid all sin. Occasionally at Mass I feel a brief moment of peace…then it is back to the fight. And the fight is not peaceful or fun. I really admire your attitude though!
R
RBK
Guest
Dear HT, I sent this meditation by Mother Angelica (EWTN) to a few people I know who are going through tremendous trials. I pray that it will encourage you…I wish I knew what that peace was like! That’s really beautiful and enviable. For me everyday is a constant battle with mental and physical sin, with no relief in sight. It’s unbelievable how tough it is to even catch a breathe when you have to be on your guard to avoid all sin. Occasionally at Mass I feel a brief moment of peace…then it is back to the fight. And the fight is not peaceful or fun. I really admire your attitude though!
"I don’t remember a day, even before I knew Jesus, when I didn’t have a problem, when I didn’t have a pain. And I realized that it was a privilege. I know it’s hard for you to understand what I’m saying, because the world tells you something else. But everybody suffers in the world. Whether I am suffering in a physical, mental, or spiritual manner, I resemble Jesus at those moments, and the Father looks at us in our pain and He sees His Son in the most beautiful way. That’s what makes you holy. Don’t rebel. We don’t understand, but He didn’t ask us to understand. He didn’t say, “Blessed are those who understand.” He said, “Take up your cross and follow Me.”
It takes a lot of guts to endure pain all day long. Some of you have pain in your limbs, in your body, in your heart, in your mind - and there’s no way that you can get away from it. But you can suffer with Jesus. This is why we have Our Lord on the cross. Not because we haven’t taken Him down, but because you need a reminder that in your pain and suffering you’ve got Somebody with you. You’ve got Somebody in you. You’ve got Somebody holding your hand. You’re not alone."
C
choy
Guest
we find happiness in being Holy
for example, a lot of people think that acquiring material things lead to happiness. and often we find they are not happy. then then there’s someone like St. Francis of Asisi, who rejected all material possessions. he even conquered fear, saying he doesn’t fear being robbed or mugged because he has nothing, nothing material can be taken from him, nothing material can be lost by him. and then he was happy
the unhappiness in material wealth is brought by wanting to acquire and acquire. and often we find that nothing seems enough. if you are happy by having nothing, you can become perfectly happy, because there is a limit to nothingness. when you have nothing, you have nothing. but in acquiring material possessions, you can only satisfy your want by acquiring more and more, and you just can’t acquire everything.
so there, by being holy, you find happiness.
D
davidv
Guest
Yes. However I don’t believe it is available to us on earth.
Perfect happiness will only exist for those who see God face to face.
H
HereticalTheist
Guest
Did Our Lord? Do you think it made him happy to be sacrificed? I think it must have hurt him beyond all imagining. His last words indicate that he died deeply unhappy. Him the perfect son.
I really could not care less about possessions, I literally have only dozen or so (I own no house, no car, no television, just a bed, a laptop, a dresser, and some clothes. They mean nothing to me at all.
Not always. not in this life. Have you read the excerpts of Mother Theresa’s diaries, or The Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross? These were not happy people. But they were obviously holy.
C
CatholicOf94
Guest
Q.Well what did Our Lady say to Saint Bernadette?
A.“I can not promise you happiness in this world only in the next” :yup:
The road to Heaven begins with hardship with trial, but in the end, ends with supreme Joy far beyond what the eye can conceive!
“Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Matt 16:24
The road to Hell begins with you saying NO to God and going your way. Forget heaven you are the master of your life. But in the end, has ETERNAL DESPAIR AND LOSS.
“Thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” Matt 16:23
A.“I can not promise you happiness in this world only in the next” :yup:
The road to Heaven begins with hardship with trial, but in the end, ends with supreme Joy far beyond what the eye can conceive!
“Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Matt 16:24
The road to Hell begins with you saying NO to God and going your way. Forget heaven you are the master of your life. But in the end, has ETERNAL DESPAIR AND LOSS.
“Thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” Matt 16:23
S
spockrates
Guest
Good question! At the moment, this response makes sense to me:
We desire what we don’t have, not what we have. Since we desire perfect (or unending) happiness, how can we be perfectly happy? The upshot is, it seems to me, that to see Jesus face to face is to put to death our desire. Cannot imagine what it will be like to no longer desire to become, because we perfectly will *be *happy!
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
(John 15:11)
We desire what we don’t have, not what we have. Since we desire perfect (or unending) happiness, how can we be perfectly happy? The upshot is, it seems to me, that to see Jesus face to face is to put to death our desire. Cannot imagine what it will be like to no longer desire to become, because we perfectly will *be *happy!
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
(John 15:11)
P
Psychotheosophy
Guest
So,
Given all things said,
How does the Catholic Church
Officially define Perfect Happiness?
Given all things said,
How does the Catholic Church
Officially define Perfect Happiness?
R
RBK
Guest
Officially, here on earth it is found in the hope of our salvation:
Hope
1817 Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful."84 "The Holy Spirit . . . he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life."85
1818 The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men’s activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity.
1820 Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus’ preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes. The beatitudes raise our hope toward heaven as the new Promised Land; they trace the path that leads through the trials that await the disciples of Jesus. But through the merits of Jesus Christ and of his Passion, God keeps us in the "hope that does not disappoint."88 Hope is the "sure and steadfast anchor of the soul . . . that enters . . . where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf."89 Hope is also a weapon that protects us in the struggle of salvation: "Let us . . . put on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation."90 It affords us joy even under trial: "Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation."91 Hope is expressed and nourished in prayer, especially in the Our Father, the summary of everything that hope leads us to desire.
But it is defined as the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings:
1024 This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed - is called “heaven.” Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.
S
spockrates
Guest
I think the definition of virtue of Hope is helpful, RBK, but does it answer Psycho’s question? As Saint Paul the Apostle asks,
For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?
(Romans 8:24)
It might be more accurate to say that perfect happiness is receiving that for which we continuously hope.
S
spockrates
Guest
{{{{ BUZZ }}}}
Well, Alex, I’ll have to say, “What is the object of our Hope?”
R
RBK
Guest
Isn’t that what I said?
Here: 1024 This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed - is called “heaven.” **Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.
**
S
spockrates
Guest
Why yes you did! My apologies.Isn’t that what I said?
Here: 1024 This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed - is called “heaven.” **Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.
**
P
Psychotheosophy
Guest
Perfect Happiness (God).
So,
If a man suffers physically,
And hopes to be healed,
Then would he be,
Perfectly happy?
- Status