You have heard that song haven't you? I loved it. I still do; and I wish it were on the air more. Fr Doug at Mass said today that he decided to google Amazon.com to see how many books they had on the subject of simply "Being Happy". Guess how many books are availble on that subject? 473,398 different books. Seems that happiness is elusive.
What is happiness? It is realizing that we are created not only to have life but to have it abundantly. St. Irenaeus said: "The glory of God is a man [woman] fully alive!" So Being Alive and Happiness are like hand in a glove. They fit together. What good is a glove without a hand? God made us to be ALIVE! Unhappiness is from not be fully alive. Being fully alive means to have the Holy Spirit living inside you. If the Holy Spirit is not living inside you, you cannot possibly be happy. "God is Love. And wherever there is Love, there is God." But the Love of God IS the Holy Spirit. We are made to be ALIVE in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Joy - which is a deep happiness. So, acquiring things or becoming famous may bring you some mega dollars....but not necesarally happiness. In today's Gospel, it says: "What can separate us from the love of Christ? Famine, or persecution or sickness ......no, NOTHING can separate us from the love of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the love of Christ in us. Jesus does personally love us; but He shows this love by sending us the LOVE of God: the Holy Spirit. Now, not even our sins can separate us from the Love of Christ. Let me explain that a little by example: say a very loving and faithful wife is totally devoted to her husband and always has and always will be. She loves her husband unconditionally. One day, he comes home her after having been unfaithful. He has separated himself from her but she has not separated herself from him. She senses the barrier he has put up between them. It is palpable and think. He has cut himself off from her. Sensing all this she doubles her efforts to make him happy. She tries with all her might to get him to see the wrong he has done and to repent of it. She sends him love notes. She cooks his favorite meals. She tries to look her best and be encourageing to him. Well, that is what is like when we sin seriously against Jesus and His Father. The Holy Spirit does leave when serious sin is committed because the Holy Spirit cannot live in a dead soul. Still the Holy Spirit calls out to the soul to repent and be reconciled to Jesus and the Father. Even while the soul is in mortal sin, Jesus' love is still there like a devoted wife. Therefore nothing can separate us from the Love of Christ even if we separate ourself by not loving Christ.
Lord, Jesus thank you for being faithful to us even when we are not faithful to You. Thank you for sending Your Holy Spirit to reconcile us and forgive us. Thanks for giving us the Holy Eucharist after we have confessed our sins to nourish us and sustain us in grace and to help us not to fall into serious sin again.
Let nothing separate us from Your love....not ever. In Your Name, we pray. Amen.
love, Pio
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