“Happiness is a state of being, not having, and still today, as it always did, it depends on strong and stable personal relationships and a sense of meaning and purpose in life.” (p 202 The Great Partnership by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks)

Perhaps one of the greatest misconceptions about Lent is the search for happiness. We often get the idea of Lent being a season of sadness, mourning and suffering, all of this which are outwards signs of Lent, but ultimately the goal of our Lenten discipline is greater unity with God that is the happiness of joyous love.
Our Lenten sacrifices help to open our hearts to the longing for something greater where we are invited to replace the transitory of this world with the Divine love of God. We know from experience how “things” bring us happiness for a short term and we know the search for stability of relationship offers us a passion that will endure the heartaches of life. And when these relationships have as their foundation the joyous love of God at their center then the truth of each love grows ever greater.
I remember before I entered seminary I took a small bike ride with a good friend. We rode down the coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles in late August. There was much suffering along the way as we made our way down the road. What was remarkable about the trip wasn’t the number of miles we went but the experiences we shared along the way: the fixing of different mechanical problems, the meals made, the people encountered, the vistas and beauty of nature that was absorbed, these were made greater by the companionship, the relationship of gratitude and joy.
Rabbi Sacks reminds us, “Happiness in the Bible is not something we find in self-gratification…Hence the significance of the word “simchah” I translated it earlier as ‘joy’, but really it has no precise translation into English, since all our emotions words refer to states of mind we can experience alone. “Simchah” is something we cannot experience alone. “Simchah” is joy shared.” (p 203-204 “The Great Partnership” by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks)
Joy shared is the responsibility of reaching out to the other and not holding back. If we only seek to make our selves “happy” then we will ultimately fail. This why the works of Lent are so vitally important; the Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving are acts of reaching out to another, to share in life and love. Like the bike ride our daily prayer should be an encounter with others, a shared experience of the Holy Mass and the petitions of care we are called to offer for others. It is sometimes arduous and painful but the joy shared brings us into a relationship of joyous love. Our fasting should help us to be open to the simple meals prepared on the road; the filling or our souls as we empty them and shed the attachments to come together for the Eucharistic feast the gift of God’s presence which is truly the food that satisfies the longing hunger to be love. It is the almsgiving of the encounter with the other on the road; the sharing of stories and memories and the words of encouragement spurring the other along and replenishing the flagging spirit with true gifts of charity founded in the mutual joy of God’s presence within the community, whether it is the bicyclist or the parishioner next to you in worship.
Pope Benedict XVI described this love beautifully, “Love of God and love of neighbor are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment. But both live from the love of God who has loved us first. No longer is it a question, then, of a “commandment” imposed from without and calling for the impossible, but rather of a freely-bestowed experience of love from within, a love which by its very nature must then be shared with others. Love grows through love. Love is “divine” because it comes from God and unites us to God; through this unifying process it makes us a “we” which transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is “all in all” (1 Cor 15:28)” (#18 Deus Caritas Est, Benedict XVI)
Have a blessed and holy Lent
Fr. Mark