The search for happiness is a common desire for everyone, however, we fall into the trap of looking for it in the wrong places. Don’t you feel bombarded with the idea that happiness is found in economic and professional well-being and in the approval of others? Then, happiness is only for some and for a limited time?
Pope Francis enlightened us by refuting this:
“Happiness is the vocation of the human being, a goal that concerns everyone. But … What happiness do we expect and desire? It is not a passing joy, an ephemeral satisfaction that, once achieved, continues to ask for more and more, in a spiral of greed where the human spirit is never satisfied, but rather is always emptier. We need a happiness that is definitively realized in that which fulfills us, that is, in Love, so that we can exclaim, even now: I am loved, therefore I am; and I will exist forever in the Love that does not disappoint and from which nothing and no one can ever separate me”. Pope Francis
Our spiritual itinerary, the Way of the Heart, invites us to meditate in the same manner:
“Created by Love and redeemed by Love, we human beings have Love as our first reference, our first language, our only happiness and our fundamental hope. We can never overestimate its importance in our lives. To fail in this is to fail in everything.
… our very being was not bargained for but simply given, and to give, to give oneself is the very nature of Love. The first thing, then, that happened to us is called Love; and from that first and fundamental fact we look at and value the other facts.
…from the moment that Love has made life possible “my life and your life”, from that very moment it has opened us to everything else and to others… It is wrong to label it happiness that which has an end, that which disappoints, that which can be bought, or that which does not satisfy”. The Way of the Heart, Step 1
Where are you aiming for when you are looking to be happy? Trust and let the GPS of true Love recalculate your route to take you straight to its Happiness.
International Editorial Team
Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network