WORD ALIVE
FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD
Everybody wants to be happy. But happiness is a very elusive thing. And the reason is we don't agree on what it means to be happy.
Some maintain that you can be happy if you have lots of money, including ill-gotten. Others believe in the saying, "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die." * * * Can fame and money buy happiness? Those who lived in the 70s might remember the rock-and-roll superstar Elvis Presley who went on to make dozens of gold records, sent millions of hysterical fans into ululations of delight, and grossed US$1 billion in earnings — before he died at the young age of 42, in August, 1977. He died of an excess of drugs and junk food. * * * Modern psychiatry's files are loaded with cases of persons who have managed to acquire everything they thought they needed to make them happy, except peace of soul. Do you know that Elvis Presley’s attractive and talented actress and partner, Dolores Hart, in many record-breaking movies turned her back on Hollywood and huge wealth for a “higher calling?” She now lives in solitude at the Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis in rural Connecticut, USA away from the glitter of the silver screen. She spends her cloistered life in peace, prayer and contemplation. * * * When Christ came, he taught a blueprint or guideline for living which turned upside down the prescriptions for happiness the world offers. That prescription is contained in this 6th Sunday’s gospel on “Beatitudes” (Be-Happy Attitudes) according to St. Luke (6:28-38). * * * Jesus declares, "Happy are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.” What Jesus meant by “being poor” was not just material poverty. Jesus never intended to approve of the grinding poverty that we see in the slums of our cities. * * * In the first Beatitude, Jesus does not mean that only the poor will enter Heaven. Poverty is not necessarily a virtue. A poor man who curses his lot, whose sole obsession in life is to be as rich as his wealthy neighbor and does it by illegal means is very poor, indeed. But if, despite poverty, one can turn to God and help his fellowmen, then poverty is a Christian virtue. * * * On the other hand, the rich are “poor” if they have the spirit of detachment from their wealth or don’t forget God as the source of their blessings. Also, they are poor when they are charitable, not just enjoying life in lavish and luxurious living. They are rich but also spiritually poor. Isn't this the spiritual problem today? In pursuit of the materialistic, consumeristic, and hedonistic in life, some have forgotten their eternal destiny of heaven and have made money their god. So much that some people have to steal, cheat and kill in pursuit of ill-gotten wealth. Isn’t this familiar with the election campaign now? * * * Is your life on earth guided by Jesus’ prescription in achieving a true and lasting happiness? What motivates you in life? Is it only worldly riches or the heavenly riches? Jesus said, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his own soul?" (Mt 16:24). For his part, St. Augustine who, after a life lived in worldly pleasures, said in the end: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” * * * The rest of the beatitudes: Being hungry for holiness, merciful, pure of heart, peacemaker, persecuted for righteousness all spell out Christ’s prescription of happiness for us. * * * Support seminarians. Seminarians are very important in the Church. Without them, we cannot have priests, missionaries, and bishops since they all start as seminarians. Donate any amount or sponsor a seminarian's schooling good for one year. For inquiry, e-mail me at: [email protected].