St. Patrick's Catholic Church at 19399 E. Hwy. 120, Ripon, CA 95366 US - Should Catholics Be Happy?
| Should Catholics Be Happy? |
 |
Catholics know that God intends for us to be happy with him in Heaven, but does that mean we aren't meant to be happy on Earth?
In fact, God's presence anywhere we are brings the peace necessary for happiness. The more often we are with him, the happier we'll be. Consider these suggestions for increasing happiness in your life.
Go with the flow. Flow means you are so caught up in an activity that you become absorbed by it. Flow creates harmony, and harmony leads to happiness. To achieve flow, we have to let God place us where he wants us to be.
Let joy and pain work together. Truly happy people don't fear pain because they know God will give them the grace they need to deal with it. Instead of running from it, we need to feel it, deal with it, and then let is flow away from us as soon as possible. Once we are done with pain, we are free to feel joy.
Know the Divine Presence. Happy people know that God is always present in their lives and seek frequent opportunities to make themselves aware of him. In particular, truly happy people remember that God walks with us through the messy parts of our lives, like illness, life changes and tragedy.
This confidence leads to joy that spills over to other people -- just as God intends. So smile and be happy.