|
|
|
|
|
Home > Reflection > Article
|
Go back |
|
Happiness and the will of God
|
Printable version |
| By Fr John Catoir
23 October, 2005 |
It is not what actually happens to you in life that is critical; it’s how you deal with it that is.
At every stage of our development we possess the spiritual freedom to choose our own attitude and consequently our own destiny.
Do you choose happiness or gloom?
The will says “yes” or “no”. Grace builds on nature; therefore it is important to see that the will is the centre of the personality.
We may be driven by unconscious, emotional forces from time to time, but we are not controlled by them. As St. Thomas said: “If you want to be a saint, will it.”
By God’s grace, holiness is really possible.
Fr Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit anthropologist, interpreted the theory of evolution as having been designed by a supreme intelligence.
He insisted that the universe is a God-oriented phenomenon, identifying God as the Alpha and the Omega of all creation, the beginning and the end. Thus, the purpose of the entire evolutionary process reaches fulfilment in the Lord.
We know that Jesus will come again at the end of human history. We also know that Jesus is the centre of our spiritual lives. He gives meaning to life itself. Jesus is not only the Lord of every individual person, but also the Lord of history.
Behind the theory of theistic evolution is the belief that men and woman are works of art in progress, and that human beings are perfectible.
The Church believes in human progress. We are all part of the colossal struggle to grow in wisdom, age and grace, thus advancing human history to its ultimate purpose – namely, to be happy with God forever.
Jesuit Fr Jean Pierre de Caussade, the noted 18th-century writer on spirituality, said: “The secret of happiness and sanctity rests in our fidelity to the will of God as it is manifested in the duty of the present moment ...
“The great and solid foundation of the spiritual life is to give oneself to God ... in such a way that the good pleasure of God, and his happiness, become our sole joy and good.”
The Little Flower, St Thérèse of Lisieux, agreed wholeheartedly. As she lay dying, she made the statement that she preformed all her actions in life with a single purpose in mind: “to make God happy.” She did this by loving him and being happy with him throughout her short life on earth.
Jesus said, “I have told you all these things that your joy may be full.” He wants us to be happy with him here and now.
In the past it was driven into us that we can offend God by not doing his will, but too few of us understand that we also can make God happy simply by being happy with him from day to day.
The Little Flower emphasised the importance of trying to make God happy. It made her happy to approach the spiritual life in this way. In the book The Happiness of God, Holiness in Thérèse of Lisieux (Alba House, 1988) by Susan Leslie, a contemplative nun from Oxford, England, we read:
“Therese insists that to be happy is an important way of showing our love for God, for he loves a happy soul, one perfectly attuned to him, content with all he wills or permits. The happy soul has faith in the loving providence of God, even in times of darkness and perplexity.”
Fr John Catoir is a CNS columnist.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
