Devotion for today: the Desire for Happiness

Remember that when you read Scripture, God wanted it written for you. Every word is meant for you. Rereading the Beatitudes for several days, and meditating on their meaning for you, will help you grow in the way of the Lord. Since they add the element of living as Christ lived, they take the Decalogue even further, and give us cause to become people who don’t just follow the law, but go further into living a pure life out of love for God.

Scripture for meditation: Matthew 5: 3-12

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: 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…

  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.

1723 The beatitude we are promised confronts us with decisive moral choices. It invites us to purify our hearts of bad instincts and to seek the love of God above all else. It teaches us that true happiness is not found in riches or well-being, in human fame or power, or in any human achievement - however beneficial it may be - such as science, technology, and art, or indeed in any creature, but in God alone, the source of every good and of all love…

1724 The Decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount, and the apostolic catechesis describe for us the paths that lead to the Kingdom of heaven. Sustained by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we tread them, step by step, by everyday acts. By the working of the Word of Christ, we slowly bear fruit in the Church to the glory of God.

St. Augustine tells us: “Late have I loved you, O beauty ever ancient, ever new. Late have I loved You. You have called to me, and have called out, and have shattered my deafness. You have blazed forth with light and have put my blindness to flight! You have sent forth fragrance, and I have drawn in my breath, and I pant after you. I have tasted you, and I hunger and thirst after you. You have touched me, and I have burned for your peace.” -Confessions, Chapter 1.

My thoughts: The Hebrew word for “Blessed” is ashrey – which also translates as “happy”: experiencing a deep satisfaction. When was the last time we attributed our happiness to the blessedness bestowed upon us by God? That is what the Beatitudes do for us. Jesus gave us a way to enter the happiness of His life in the Father. He gave us a way to put aside earthly delights and frivolities and concentrate on the only happiness that lasts forever: the life that awaits us in the Kingdom of heaven. When we study the Beatitudes, may our hearts burst forth with the love St. Augustine discovered when he opened his heart to God. Only by lives lived in accord with the Commandments, and then fulfilled in the way of the Beatitudes, will we ever find a love so pure, so holy, and so innocent, that we will “burn for the peace of God.” No earthly pleasure, separated from God’s way, can ever come to good. To be “blessed” we must reach beyond ourselves to total love for God. Everything we do then becomes an act of love for God, not a score card for entrance into heaven. “I have tasted You, and I hunger and thirst after You.” May those words be our motto for life.

Prayer: Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth, will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace. 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0jpHtsSEQo&feature=fvwrel)