On happiness

He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these [commandments] I have observed from my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Mark 10:20 - 22

We all want to be happy, we want our children to be happy, but what exactly is happiness, and how is it reached? And when you have breathed your last, will your descendants say of you, ‘He lived a happy life’? This quest has raged for millennia, and was keenly debated by Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Socrates asked the question, how do you live a good life? For him, the good life was a life of ethical virtue. Happiness is achieved when we flourish as human beings, but this isn’t an emotive state (or subjective), it is evident to others (objective) who see a person seeking to live the good life by actively pursuing ethical virtue. In Mark’s Gospel (10:17 – 30), Jesus proposes that a life lived well is one where you behave and live ethically and where we use only what is necessary. He is equally clear that what prevents us living ethically is when our possessions own us and when we cannot let them go. It is possible, despite Jesus’ warning to the rich! And if happiness springs from such a life lived well, then Sister Barbara Hateley springs easily to mind. Barbara died after a short illness in Hobart on the weekend. A Missionary Sister of Service for 35 years, I was privileged in knowing her and her wry sense of humour for the past 25 years. She lived the motto of her congregation, ‘Into the highways and byways’ by taking the Gospel across this country: she worked and ministered in Catholic education at state and national levels, in ecumenism, in religious education and faith formation, in the archdiocese’s Office of Church Life and Ministry and turned her time and talents to anything that was asked of her. In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount happiness is found in and for the poor in spirit, those that mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for justice, the merciful, the pure in heart, peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. And indeed, those who seek such happiness have riches beyond our dreams for they have found a treasure in the field (Matthew 13:44). Vale, Sister Barbara! She lived a happy life, a life lived well.