Have you ever wondered if God was trying to tell you something?  You don’t have to worry too much because God is always trying to tell us something; usually something good and always something that will challenge us to open our eyes, ears and hearts to the greater presence of God in our life.  That’s a little scary.  Why am I asking this question?  Well very simply because after Christmas as I was looking for a book I realized that God had shared with me a great coincidence as a gift and was definitely asking me a tough question.

First, let’s begin with this St. Lucy, my parish, shared Matthew Kelly’s book “Resisting Happiness” with our parishioners this Christmas.  Second, I was the looking for a book and while on the search finding and remembering two books, Fr. Jonathan Morris’s book “God Wants You Happy” and another by Eric G. Wilson “Against Happiness”.    All books I have read over the past 18 months or so and as you can see by the photo all books dealing the theme of happiness and each jacketed in a bright yellow cover.  And that got me thinking…was this just a coincidence or a God-incidence.

Each of the three books looks at the goal of happiness in a different way…but all with the ultimate goal of life is the union with something greater than ourselves and for Christian’s the union with God as the ultimate goal. And while the word “happiness” occurs and is the goal, each of the books reminds us that the happiness we seek isn’t the transitory but the permanent and eternal joy that is foundation of the often used quote from St. Augustine of Hippo, “Our hearts our restless, until they find rest in you.”  Wilson’s book, in fact, argues that it is through melancholy and sadness, when embraced in life, are the pathways that discover the deeper happiness and joy of life.  It is an understanding where temporary and frivolous “happinesses” destroy the deeper need for a connection of lasting love in our lives.

It is in choosing happiness that moves beyond the self and focuses on the greater good and enters into a relationship of love and blessing where we are able find peace within our relationships through the God’s generous gift of life.  Fr. Morris writes, “Every day holds out to us a choice between shallowness and living faith, between fear and living hope, between self-centeredness and living love.” (p 194) It is in this choice that we ultimately are called to live in the joyfulness of life.

The goal is to look for and embrace the greater not the lesser this is how and where we find contentment; not in the transitory and worldly but in the find of the eternal through our choosing to embrace the world in joy.  During this Christmas season we have great opportunities to do this.  We as Christians celebrate the birth of our Lord for the 12 days that follow Christmas where we enter into the timelessness of God’s glory in holding the child Jesus gently in our hands.  Matthew Kelly reminds us that this opportunity to embrace the joy of God’s blessings begins anew each day as we awake to God’s many blessings.  It is the spiritual battle that is fought for and against happiness each day when we choose other gods in place of the one God who is our source of holy happiness.

I would invite you to take time to begin reading Resisting Happiness this week.  It is not a novel that needs to be finished, rather it is a spiritual meditation that invites us to the daily practice of embracing the joy of God’s presence in life.  I would also invite you to hear my own thoughts on the book as I will (hopefully) post daily tidbits at, www.frmarkcarnzen.com beginning January 2, 2017.

God Bless

Fr. Mark