ENDURING HAPPINESS

Imagine for a moment that a new little device was invented that could always make you feel happy. Would you choose to be connected to it? When things go wrong, we all may want to ask for a break, but this is different from making our own comfort the measuring stick of reality and our main goal. If this was the case, we would have become babies again, who just want to feel comforted, happy and satisfied.

Jesus words can be puzzling at first sight: “Woe to those who laugh now… Woe to those who are full” (see LK 6:24-26). But when we go a little deeper, we realize that this is not the sermon of a party-pooper but a call to wake us up. Christianity is not a religion of “nos” but of the great “yes” to a more abundant life, true and enduring happiness. However, Jesus, who sat at the table with sinners and spoke of the Kingdom as a wedding banquet, knew well enough that more often than not we are only open to drink the new wine he wants to offer us when our own has run out.

When we are feeling a little short as we are trying to be faithful to our Christian life, hope in the Lord is our anchor. Heaven is not some kind of distant promise, but a joy and consolation that are not from our own making but from the unfailing promises of God.