More on Happiness

Only God Can Make Us Happy

Too late came I to love You, O Beauty both ancient and ever new; too late came I to love You. Behold! you were within me, and I was out of myself searching for You. You, indeed, were with me, but I was not with You. You called to me; yes, You even broke open my deafness. Your beams shined unto me and cast away my blindness. -- St. Augustine, Confessions

Perfect Happiness Must Wait for Heaven

This definition of Happiness given by some---"Happy is the man that has all he desires," or, "whose every wish is fulfilled" is a good and adequate definition; but an inadequate definition if understood in another. For if we understand it simply of all that man desires by his natural appetite, thus it is true that he who has all that he desires, is happy: since nothing satisfies man's natural desire, except the perfect good which is Happiness. ---St Thomas Aquinas

Do you know what is meant in the book by "beatific vision"? (if not, check the link for what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about it)

Why can't we be perfectly happy on earth?

Can we still enjoy happiness on earth? What does the book say about this? What does it say is the "secret of happiness"?

Are the good things of earth to be despised?

If you can ignore the strange picture of the guy coming out of the computer, look at this site. It says:

I suggest that our Creator gave us our desires for a reason. I am not surprised that the subtitle of the monastic book Trappist is "living in the land of desire". I am not suggesting that all our desires, our yearning is satisfied in this limited world of space and time. The very opposite. We are creatures who do not find our ultimate fulfillment in this creation.

It also suggests the traditional Catholic practice of "arrow prayers" -- short prayers uttered during the day. This is very helpful in order to keep being grateful for, and not be distracted by, the many good things we have been given.

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