Blessed are you, Happy are you
A homily at DuBois Central Catholic
Editor’s Note: This is a summary of a homily that Fr. Ben Daghir preached at DuBois Central Catholic. (Gospel of Luke 6:20-26).
Today’s Gospel presents us with the Beatitudes. “Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours” and “Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.” Do you know what the word beatitude/blessed means?
In Latin, the word is beatitudo. It means “happiness.” Let me now repeat the beatitudes with this translation: “Happy are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours” and “Happy are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.” In other words, Jesus is laying out a roadmap of happiness. He is clearly stating that this is the path to happiness.
You may not know this, but every decision you make is made to be happy. It is what separates us from every other creature in the universe. You are hardwired for happiness. You brushed your teeth today to be satisfied. You are on the sports team, you are with your friends, you scroll through social media, you are in the theater, and you are in that advanced calculus course to be happy. You are considering that college, that profession, or that vocation to be satisfied.
Again, every decision you make has the ultimate purpose: to make you happy. If we are hardwired for happiness, then why are some people not happy?
Some search for happiness in the wrong places. Others search for things that can only make them happy for a short time, for an hour, for a week, for only a year. Jesus’s beatitude, “Blessed [Happy] are you who are poor,” indicates that this world cannot provide enough to make us happy. We shouldn’t be attached to this world. Jesus is demanding that we search for more.
Jesus’s beatitude, “Blessed [Happy] are you who are now hungry,” indicates that we should hunger for what fills our minds, souls, and hearts. In other words, we should hunger for more than what this world offers.
We will only be happy once we search for more than this world offers. This, of course, is because we are not made in the image and likeness of the world. Instead, we are made in God’s image and likeness. The roadmap to happiness, therefore, must have God as the destination. Blessed are you, happy are you who do not set the bar in this world but rather look higher to Heaven.
Fr. Ben Daghir
