Listen here (Sat. Eve): https://docs.google.com/a/stpius.net/file/d/0B1r8CMMH17Y0NVBpSnpqTURzV0luaTJvTlIxMC1DV29vSjhZ/edit?usp=docslist_api
SEEK - theme of FOCUS conference in Nashville starting late New Year's Day came from this Gospel where Jesus asks us "What are you looking for?" Or Seek or Want. What do you seek?
We all want to be happy, truly and eternally happy. But we are often lost in our search. We so often fall for the first thing we see instead of thinking about it all at a deeper level. The problem is there are so many different types of happiness, or to put it better, many things that are similar to true happiness but aren't exactly that. And we can so often get caught up in these for hours, or months, or even decades of our life before we realize we were chasing after the wind and going nowhere fast. For example, money, says the world, can make us happy - as if can solve our problems, if we have enough of it. But it can't. Money doesn't solve suffering, both in the world or in our personal lives. So if we can't be happy as long as we are suffering, money won't make us happy. What about power? We can always be more influential so there's no resting in that, nor are the most powerful people automatically happy. Fame? no, just listen to news radio for an hour. How about pleasure? That doesn't make us happy, it only distracts us for a bit.
Saint Augustine said we have "restless hearts," they don't quit searching; until, he says, they "rest in God." But along the way there are some things that can start to take us higher. I once talked about the 4 levels of happiness: 1. pleasure, 2. superiority/competition, 3. common good, and 4. God.
We all want to be happy, truly and eternally happy. But we are often lost in our search. We so often fall for the first thing we see instead of thinking about it all at a deeper level. The problem is there are so many different types of happiness, or to put it better, many things that are similar to true happiness but aren't exactly that. And we can so often get caught up in these for hours, or months, or even decades of our life before we realize we were chasing after the wind and going nowhere fast. For example, money, says the world, can make us happy - as if can solve our problems, if we have enough of it. But it can't. Money doesn't solve suffering, both in the world or in our personal lives. So if we can't be happy as long as we are suffering, money won't make us happy. What about power? We can always be more influential so there's no resting in that, nor are the most powerful people automatically happy. Fame? no, just listen to news radio for an hour. How about pleasure? That doesn't make us happy, it only distracts us for a bit.
Saint Augustine said we have "restless hearts," they don't quit searching; until, he says, they "rest in God." But along the way there are some things that can start to take us higher. I once talked about the 4 levels of happiness: 1. pleasure, 2. superiority/competition, 3. common good, and 4. God.
Relationships - We want to love and be loved.
Ultimately, we want the Lord who is Love. Samuel was lucky enough to have lots of silence for the opportunity to hear the cries of his heart and the voice of the Lord.
Ultimately, we want the Lord who is Love. Samuel was lucky enough to have lots of silence for the opportunity to hear the cries of his heart and the voice of the Lord.
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