For
“free market” people like me who follow the stock market very
carefully each day, what a world we live in! The vision of life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness can be ours. All we have to
do is to make sound investment decisions. All too often, however,
we miss the boat by not investing in a particular stock
because we fear taking too much risk and potentially losing our
shirt.
For
example, take one initial public offering (IPO) in 1992 by a
little-known company named America Online (AOL). One hundred shares
of AOL purchased at the IPO price of $11.25—an investment of
$1,125.00—transformed into 3,400 shares of AOL stock worth $5.5
million in 1999.
I
remember that IPO. I also didn’t invest in AOL because I believed
the business plan was way overblown. I thought: Who ever would pay
$19 per month to access the Internet when other providers, like Net
Zero, were offering access to the Internet for $9.95 per month? As
it ends up, millions upon millions of people—like my sister—would.
I was happy with Net Zero and, because of that, lost out big time on
AOL.
In
a culture whose members are obsessed with (and, perhaps, addicted
to) the pursuit of materialistic happiness, people will work
extremely hard to pursue that they believe will bring happiness and
sometimes, by chance, they stumble upon it. Perhaps they make a
huge return on an IPO. Perhaps they win the lottery. Or, their
eyes bulge out of their eye sockets when the see the Publisher’s
Clearinghouse van pulling into their driveway during the Super Bowl.
One
of the problems with the pursuit of happiness as we live it out in
our culture is that the pursuit of happiness requires looking at
everything in our lives as a “means” to an “end.” The only things
that are valuable are those that bring us happiness. We have
“friends” whom we use to promote ourselves and our self-interests,
irrespective of their lives and needs. How often have we introduced
a friend not by name but by that individual’s profession, job, or
status? We say: “This is my friend who’s a
physician…lawyer…teacher” and so on. We have “jobs” we use to
accrue power and prestige so that, in turn, we can lord ourselves
over others. We will even use family members to advance our social
status. Why ever would a parent adhere one of those self-promoting
“Proud parent of an honor student at XYZ School” stickers on the
bumper of their vehicle?
See how easy it is
to turn an “end” in itself—a human being—into a “means” to another
end, namely, personal aggrandizement or pleasure?
Unfortunately, the pursuit of happiness as we live it out in our
culture only breeds rivalries, injustice, and violence, widening the
gap between human beings. Then, feeling more like strangers than
brothers and sisters each of whom has been created in God’s image
and likeness, we lose the clarity of vision or perspective it takes
to appreciate what we need to do if we are going to reverse the
destructive forces we ourselves have unleashed in our unbridled
pursuit of happiness.
In
contrast with the pursuit of happiness—as this concept courses
through our minds like water courses through the gills of a
fish—Jesus paints a quite different picture in today’s gospel for
those who would wish to be his disciples. We must seek
“blessedness” not fleeting and transitory happiness by adopting
attitudes—the “be-attitudes” that bring the joy and peace of God’s
kingdom to all of those places where war would otherwise be waged.
Blessedness is about being virtuous—something that cannot be
taught. While many of us may see blessedness in others and we may
even desire to be blessed ourselves, we oftentimes don’t make
blessedness central to our lives because blessedness has to do with
possessing a character that enables us to see and to respond to
people in a genuine and loving way, not in a calculating or
self-justifying way. In short, we are blessed as we treat people as
valued “ends” in themselves not as “means” to some other desired
end.
People who are blessed love God above all things, honor their
parents, do not engage in violence, do not commit adultery, do not
steal, do not lie or slander, and do not desire what is not
rightfully theirs. These “blesseds” are dependable, their person
character is firm and intact—absolutely rock solid (in Greek,
πετρυς or “Peter”)—and it is upon the blessed Jesus said, “I
will build my church.”
Blessedness results not from hard work although it is extremely
difficult to be blessed when we are tested. No, blessedness results
when we decide—with a firm purpose of amendment—to cooperate with
God’s life breathed into each of us at the moment God created us.
That breath of divine life is the source of our true character and,
as Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, is evident in eight key
attitudes, those “be-attitudes.”
Let’s briefly consider those Beatitudes.
The
first four depict our character in relation to God. To be “poor in
spirit” is to know that we need God and to place our trust in God.
That is how we learn that wealth, fame, and material comforts do not
define our true worth. To be “sorrowful” is to mourn the effects of
sin in our lives, relationships, and world, seeing what truly is
absent and desiring the conversion of mind and heart necessary so
that we will bring healing to all of the troubled areas of our
lives, relationships, and world. To be “meek” is to recognize our
limitations and powerlessness and to hunger and thirst for God’s
kingdom, not for material wealth and fame.
People who are poor in spirit, sorrowful, and meek in character are
those sincere and genuine women and men we know who foster trust and
cooperation in a world full of corruption, dishonesty, and deceit.
Sure, all of that is what’s needed to be happy in this world. But,
because we live in a culture whose members believe that corruption,
dishonesty, and deceit bring happiness, we must recognize how this
attitude breeds rivalries, injustice, and violence. This
attitude ultimately devours blessedness,
The
second four Beatitudes depict our character in relation to other
people, proceeding from our desire to be blessed. To “show mercy”
is to forgive and reconcile, by bringing peace and unity to our
families and other relationships as we allow what we profess in
words (“forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us”) to be demonstrated in the facts of our lives. To be a
“peacemaker” is to overcome the evil evidencing itself in our desire
for vengeance, revenge, and violence as we extend an authentic and
firm handclasp of friendship that is based upon a hoped-for future,
not anchored permanently in some past misdeeds and hatreds. To
“suffer rejection and persecution” is to demonstrate the willingness
to forsake every creature comfort, even our very lives if need be,
because we possess the unshakeable belief that, by dying to
ourselves, we gain life itself. That is, when we are stripped of
all of our material possessions, fame, and fig leaves—as we will be
when the undertaker comes to pick up our bodies—our true character
will show forth in our words and deeds. As Jesus said at this very
moment in his life: “Father, forgive them. For they know knot what
they do.”
People who are merciful, make peace, and suffer rejection and
persecution are those sincere and genuinely humble women and men we
happen upon in our lives whose character bestirs and quickens within
us God’s life. Sure, all of that appears to be complete and utter
foolishness to those who seek happiness in this world. But,
ultimately, these are the attitudes that strengthen blessedness.
As St. Paul reminded the Corinthians:
God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose
the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly
and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to
nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast
before God.
NASA recently released a picture of the Earth, what the NASA
scientists have named the “Blue Marble.” The image is the most
detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a
collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and
visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land
surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color
mosaic of every square kilometer (.386 square mile) of the planet.
It is an amazing and spectacular view of our earthly home:
Like the Blue Marble, the Beatitudes provide a spectacular image of
human life that makes it possible for us to see what is beneath or
beyond the false façade of happiness by distinguishing between that
which is permanent from that which is passing as well as that which
is valuable from that which is valueless.
Success in blessedness—unlike achieving happiness—is neither a
matter of chance. Instead, blessedness is the consequence of a
cooperative effort with God’s life in us. The attitudes and actions
associated with blessedness are not feats for which we seek
rewards—means to other ends—but a character that reveals something
of God’s life—an end in itself.
In
last week’s gospel, Jesus told those who would wish to follow him
that authentic discipleship requires changing how they think. As
difficult as that is—just think about how we define happiness and
how difficult it is to change how we think about what constitutes
happiness—Jesus challenges those who would wish to follow him in
today’s gospel to focus upon changing their attitudes and
character. If we set our sights on achieving happiness in a
materialistic culture, we might (or might not) chance upon it by
buying shares in the right IPO, purchasing a winning lottery ticket,
or being picked as winner of the Publisher’s Clearinghouse
sweepstakes. But, all the while, our words and actions will betray
an individual whose character is defined in terms of wealth, fame,
and absent of any discomfort or suffering whatsoever.
My
friends, is this not a completely unrealistic vision of life?
All we have to do is to open our eyes and look around.
But, when we set our sights on blessedness—make that decision with a
firm purpose of amendment—virtue is no accident. Why? Because in
allowing God to lead us—even in the midst of poverty, suffering,
sorrow, and rejection—our words and actions will reveal something of
God’s life in our troubled world that bestirs and quickens God’s
life in other people.
This is what God has breathed into us: a hopeful and realistic
vision of human life as a “means” to the blessed “end” of eternal
joy in God’s kingdom.
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Lent
is begins this Wednesday, February 6th!
Each
year, the people at Magnificat® produce a companion edition for the
season of Lent. Similar to a what older Catholics may remember as a
"prayer book," the companion edition contains all sorts of prayers,
readings, reflections, art, and activities for every member of the
family to prepare each day of the season of Lent for the
resurrection of Christ on Easter morning.
Grandparents might consider purchasing a copy for themselves and
copies for each grandchild. Confirmation sponsors might consider
purchasing a copy for themselves as well as the person they have
sponsored or are sponsoring in the faith. Spouses might purchase a
copy for themselves and use it for daily prayer during the season of
Lent. Parents might purchase a copy for the family and use it to
lead prayer before dinner each evening.
At a price of $3.95 for 1-4 copies plus
$1 shipping/handling, $2.50 for 5-9 copies plus $3
shipping/handling, and $1.50 for 10-49 copies (plus $5
shipping/handling), the companion edition makes a perfect and very
affordable opportunity to prepare for the resurrection of Christ on
Easter morning as well as an Lenten gift to spur family, friends,
and colleagues toward greater spiritual growth during the holy
season of Lent.
The
companion edition has a limited press run that sells out each year.
Furthermore, orders are filled in the order received. So, place
your order early.
To place an order for the 2008 companion
edition of Magnificat® for the season of Lent, call 1-970-416-6670
or email specialissue@intrepidgroup.com for ordering information.
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