There was once a story about a farmer who had been living a relaxed life on his hammock while patiently waiting for the harvest. One day, his friend urged him to work harder in life. Instead of comfortably laying on his hammock waiting for the growth and harvest of his plants, the friend encouraged him to take an extra job. The farmer asked his friend "What for?" "So that you can have more money" the friend replied. "What for?" he retorted. "So that you can send yourself to school?" "What for?" "So that you will be educated, land on a profitable job or start a business." "What for?" "So that you can live a relaxed and comfortable life." The farmer then replied, "What do you think am I doing!?"
We all desire happiness and joy in our life. All that we do are directed towards this one desire. We work hard so that we may enjoy a comfortable life. We establish and maintain a good relationship because we yearn for the love that will complete us. But it can be observed that even if others have everything in this world, some of them are still unhappy. We hear, for example, about a singer-dancer-actress who broke into tears during her concert. She has a booming career, a love life, untold wealth and all other things that a lady may wish for; all the things of this world that can make a person happy. But why was she in tears of sorrow? The desire for happiness is an element in our life placed by God in our heart so that we may constantly long for Him who alone can give the joy we yearn for (CCC 1718).
St. Augustine says: “We all want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this proposition, even before it is fully articulated. How is it, then, that I seek you, Lord? Since in seeking you, my God, I seek a happy life, let me seek you so that my soul may live, for my body draws life from my soul and my soul draws life from you.”
We find life lonely and sad whenever we seek happiness in things, riches, powers, and honors of this world. We are not satisfied with them. They frustrate us through their empty promises and illusions. No material wealth and worldly adulations can fill the emptiness in our hearts. Our sadness indicates our yearning for a deeper sense of satisfaction which we can only find in God. St. Thomas Aquinas says: God alone satisfies. We are created and meant to live for the kingdom of God and not for the kingdom of this world. Thus, this world will never completely make us happy. And we cannot have dual citizenship. We cannot claim that we are citizens of the Kingdom of God and at the same time cling to the riches of this world. This world is no abiding city for us. Our commonwealth is in heaven (Phil 3:20). Where or to whom do you seek happiness?
The prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 17:5-8) teaches us about the two possibilities in our search for happiness: we either live an accursed (sad) life or a blessed (happy) life, depending on where you place your trust and hope. Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings alone, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD. Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. The Lord is an eternal spring that nourishes the bushes planted around it, while human beings and the strength of their flesh are like a desert where everything that is planted perishes when drought strikes. Thus, happiness and blessedness are possible only to those who put their trust and hope in the Lord.
St. Paul points to the spring from which we can quench our thirst for happiness and blessedness. The resurrection of Christ, St. Paul writes (1 Corinthians 15:12 16-20), is our assurance of the promised life eternal. If Christ did not rise from the dead, then he is just a man. And accursed are those who trust in man. But Christ rose from the dead. He defeated death and therefore Himself is God. Thus, we are not to pin our hope to human life, but rather to the eternal life that Christ's resurrection guarantees to us who trust in Him.
The Beatitudes (Luke 6:17 20-26) are considered to be the “Manifesto of Being Christian” (what it means to be a Christian). They are direction given to us by Christ that we may achieve eternal happiness and blessedness: the goal of our life. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection. They shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life. They are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations. They proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples (CCC 1717). They point to the reality that we, as Christians, no longer belong to a territory, race, or this world alone. We are destined for the Kingdom of God where our true and complete happiness can be found; where God wants us to be.
Blessed are the hungry, those who weep, are hated, excluded, insulted, denounced on account of God, for their reward will be great, not in this world but in heaven. But woe to those who are rich, who are filled now, who laugh now, to whom everyone speaks well now for they have received their consolation now. Do the beatitudes exalt misery and demote comfortable worldly life? They challenge our outlook towards the material world; our relationship towards earthly resources and human adulations and powers entrusted to us.
We establish an inordinate relationship with this world when we see it as our sole means and end in life. We err gravely when we attempt to find happiness and satisfaction in this world and all that it offers to us; when we live our life as if there is no life after this. We are simple sojourners, pilgrims in this world. We are not to stay here forever. This world we are passing through is given to us as our way to find and live the vocation God gives to us. Through the created reality, we are to know, love and serve God through the love of our neighbor. In the Creator alone are we to find true fulfillment, happiness, and blessedness; not in the creation.
The poor are truly blessed for their true consolation lies only in God and not in riches or worldly power. In their emptiness, they provide a space for God in their lives. They may not be rewarded now in the eyes of men, but they are truly blessed, for they welcome God in their lives and the kingdom of God is in their midst. Yes, even in hardship we find joy, for we know that God is with us. Be poor, therefore, so that you may have Jesus as the true source of your joy in life.
The rich and those who depend on the security of their riches are in great danger of not seeking happiness from the true source of joy who is God alone. They may be deceived in thinking that they are self-sufficient; that they can do all the things by themselves. But remember, all human deeds perish, but not that of God. Will you allow human works and strength to reign in your life?
Sino sa atin ngayon ang nais maging maralita? Ang maging aba? Ang maging walang-wala? In our emptiness of the material things, detachment from the worldly riches, we can give God space in our lives to work in us.
Indeed, a blessed person relies solely on the promise of God. Trust, and hope in the Lord are sure springs for the growth of our life. The resurrection is our assurance to live a blessed life. We can begin our journey to heaven rightly, to be happy as God wants us to be, if we have these directions from the beatitudes that direct us to God and not to human and worldly satisfaction.
Gusto ng Dios maging masaya tayo. Nais Niyang maging mapalad and bawat isa sa atin. Pero minsan hinahanap natin ang saya sa ibang bagay o ibang lugar. Nagiging maralita at salat tayo sa mga tunay na yaman mula sa Dios. Sino ang mapalad? Silang nilalagay ang buhay nila sa palad ng Dios.
No comments:
Post a Comment