If you have had the good fortune to read Fr Robert Baron's Book "Catholicism" and/or seen the accompanying DVD series you are blessed indeed. This is the most effective and beautiful (DVD) presentations of the faith that I have experienced.
In Chapter 2 "Happy Are We - The Teachings of Jesus", Fr Baron explains the Beatitudes and then, while standing in front of a crucifix, explains St Thomas Aquinas' challenge to all of the faithful:
To hate what Jesus hated while on the cross and to love what Jesus loved on the cross. What did Jesus hate? - the attachments to wealth, power, pleasure and honor that have plagued humanity in every generation. What did Jesus love? - doing the will of His Father.
And then Fr Baron adds a disturbing point - if we truly believe these things then Jesus Christ on the cross is a truly happy person!! This is hard to accept but is necessary if we are going to understand our own relationship with God. Could you be happy without being attached to wealth, power, pleasure or honor? The paradox, of course, is that you can ONLY be happy without those attachments. What is the will of God for your life? We learn God's desire for us as we free ourselves from attachments and addictions. In prayer, in silence, and in all truth and love, each of us must discern where the cross is for us - and then become free and happy human beings.
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