God: Cause of our happiness

Since 2015, Uganda has been ranked by international research firms as one of the best places to live in Africa, and among the countries with the happiest people worldwide, despite being poor.

 “We are naturally happy people. Even when we go through hard times, we remain happy, probably because the Almighty made us so,” says Peter Okello, a retired politician from northern Uganda.

Matthew 5:1-12, presents Jesus and his sermon on the Mountain, outlining the blessedness that is sure to ultimately bring happiness, both in this world and in the world to come. The Beatitudes of Jesus are new and revolutionary. They present a model of happiness contrary to what is usually communicated by the media and by the prevailing wisdom. A worldly way of thinking finds it scandalous that God became one of us and died on a cross! What is glorified is success at any cost, affluence, the arrogance of power and self-affirmation at the expense of others.

When we look only for success, pleasure and possessions, and we turn these into idols, we may well have moments of excitement, an illusory sense of satisfaction, but ultimately we become enslaved, never satisfied, always looking for more. Jesus calls us to a Gospel lifestyle marked by sobriety, by a refusal to yield to the culture of consumerism. Jesus can free us from the kinds of idol-worship which enslave us. Just as we need the courage to be happy, we also need the courage to live simply.

The word “blessed.” is an exclamation of the inner joy and peace that comes with being right with God. Jesus’ declaration of “blessed” is a pledge of divine reward for the inner spiritual character of the righteous. The Beatitudes have hidden wisdom of God; they are our guide to live a happy life. They were lived out for us most fully by Jesus himself.

It was on people themselves, the human person in relation to God, that Jesus focused his mission.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as well” (Matthew 6:33). Jesus teaches that in the beatitudes the love of God will reveal itself as the meaning of life. Those who observe them will be called children of God; they shall see God” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

The truth about God, and, hence, the truth about us is hidden underneath suffering and weakness. The beatitudes are why we should live and why we should die so as to live forever. They are the reason we should follow the man called Jesus.

The Beatitudes reflect what it is to follow Jesus;  poor in spirit, mourning (due to sin), meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, merciful, clean of heart, peacemakers, persecuted for the sake of righteousness, insulted for Christ, persecuted for Christ, and evil spoken about us because of Christ. Compromising with anything less simply means following the world and its values and not following Jesus the Lord.

Christians  today like to be comfortable and to be well off.  But when we water down the Word of God in order to maintain a comfortable life style, then we must recognise that we are betraying Jesus as our Lord.  If we do choose to follow the Word of God and to follow Jesus as our Saviour, we will be considered fools.  It is through this kind of foolishness that we can bring light to the world and perhaps even draw the world back to God. 

“Jesus makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1026). During the Lenten season, God invites us to re-align our lives with the Beatitudes.