Jesus begins the discourse in the gospel today, which is just one of the five big reflections he gives in the Sermon on the Mount, with the wonderful words of the Beatitudes. There are eight of them, each one beginning with the words, “Blessed are those…” ‘Blessed’ is also translated as ‘Happy’ and is from the Greek adjective makarios which includes not only the idea of happiness, but also of good fortune, of being specially blessed. So we can also translate it as “Happy are those…” or “Fortunate are those…”
It is important to realise that being a follower of Christ is intended to be a source of deep happiness and a realisation that one is truly fortunate to have discovered this vision of life given Matthew is presenting him as the New Moses, who was here to transcend and not obliterate the Law of Moses, so that through his more enlightened instructions, we can arrive at this kind of happiness which transcends all others—the beatific vision.
One of the things a lot of people consider with much importance when discerning a vocation is happiness and joy. Will such and such a life make me happy?
I am sure that all you who are taking philosophy right now have or will run into the subject of happiness.
So many people have said so much about this subject, and so did Christ in this great sermon on the mount, to whom obviously as Christians we ought to give not only the greatest weight, and utmost consideration, but the complete assent of our wills.
For Buddha - "There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path" Buddha's vision of happiness puts the greatest emphasis on people finding fulfillment in the experience of living, rather than arriving.
There is no ultimate end goal. For the Buddha, we make our happiness along the way. For Christ it goes beyond this, because through various circumstances, there’s the possibility that, “You will weep now, but will rejoice later.” Happiness is ultimately achieved in the beatific vision in heaven and in this life is seen as a byproduct of a close relationship with God and living a virtuous life, but it begins and ends with God, while for Buddha, it’s all just an inner journey, and nothing more. At best, the inner journey will involve others, but not an absolute God, who has revealed himself and calls us to a loving relationship.
Bertrand Russell, held that, “Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness" — But his idea that happiness can be found in the surrender to visceral feelings of love is very contrary to Christian charity and actually leads to the disordered love Saint Augustine spoke about where many can be devastated and hurt and irreparably wounded by trying to fill the void in their hearts through various excesses of wealth, pleasure, power and honour, even if it meant obtaining these included criminal activity and dishonest living. This is why God so detests those excesses—because they ruin us, his precious children. The joy and happiness Christ speaks of is primarily rooted in doing the will of God. For this reason, Thomas Aquinas held that, in his human nature, Christ on the Cross was the happiest man who ever lived.
For Nietzsche, the famous mustachioed nihilist, happiness is a kind of control one has over their surroundings. The German philosopher wrote frequently on the impacts that power (and a lack of power) can have on people's lived experiences. When people resist, they take back their agency. That sense of self can then turn into happiness. Again, there are times where we do need to resist the whims of the powerful and the dictates of a depraved morality, but the happiness Christ speaks of involves submitting in service to one another, and above all, submitting ourselves to God’s will.
Socrates, Plato, John Stuart Mill, all of these philosophers have an understanding of happiness which is merely the product of one’s own searching for it. It’s like the constant search throughout the generations for God. And hence the so many religions in the world. The truth is that the true God came down looking for us. God came down to bring us the joy we seek and which was lost through original sin. It is not merely a product of our own efforts. It is a gift given to us, which will be experienced in its ultimate form only in paradise.
With us, joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. The more we allow God to permeate our lives, the more joy naturally begins to emanate. In the beatitudes, Jesus is giving us a roadmap on how to allow God to be the greatest and strongest presence in our lives, if only we detest what he detests, and love what he loves. Our Blessed Mother’s splendour stems from the very fact that she is in such perfect unison with the will of God, that she just shines, with beauty, with life, and joy, with holy radiance and an untarnished dignity. She’s quite simply, as Bishop Sheen once put it, his “dream walking.”
May she who was able to perfectly embody the beatitudes teach us also the importance of doing so in our own lives so that one day we may enjoy perfect happiness with her in heaven. Amen.
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