Another thought for the day.

The meaning of life, isn’t to be happy!!

Oh, happiness is a nice byproduct but it wasn’t the reason you were born and it’s not the reason God lets you suck air all day long. If happiness were the goal, the most important reason for you to be on earth, then most of the saints and perhaps all of the martyrs were miserable failures or psychotic.

The meaning of life is found in the old Baltimore Catechism. It’s to know God, love God and serve God and in that way to serve others around us too. Out of that service, comes happiness.

I’m getting ready once more to give a talk to Pre-Cana couples with my husband and the preparation for that talk has brought it front and center in my mind again. In marriage, the husband and wife are supposed to serve each other and their children. And that’s not always a 50-50 split, sometimes it can’t be. (Ask Alexa about giving in a marriage!) But it’s not called to be a “fair” split, it’s supposed to be a complete giving of self – 100% 365/24/7! I think when couples lose sight of that and start focusing only or mostly on themselves, (and granted that could be right at the altar – which is why the church has annullments) that’s when marriages get into trouble.

And I don’t buy that “Life is too short” crap either unless it’s in the context of “Life is too short to make up for all of my stupid mistakes, so I’m going to have to try twice as hard to be better.”

So go ahead, pick up his dirty underwear for the millionth time, go put gas in her car and clean the snow off the windows so she doesn’t have to… and BE HAPPY ABOUT IT. As St. Thomas would say, being happy is easy – JUST WILL IT!!

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