We all want guaranteed happiness, but we seldom find it. Imagine if you will your own desires from the past. How many things have you really wanted and just had to have? And then after obtaining your desires you have felt cheated or unfulfilled. "This is not as good as they said it would be." "It is not as pretty as in the commercial." Etc.
Now think of some of the guarantees that may have been given to you. There is a famous one you all may have heard: "The only thing that is certain in this life is death and taxes." Some others might be: "You will never be eight, nine, ten etc. again." "If you are good you will be rewarded." Etc. I am sure that you have heard these guarantees or ones similar to them.
We are old enough now to have begun to realize that most if not all of the guarantees of satisfaction offered by the world don't exist. No one on earth can give us happiness or promise us unending bliss.
So where can we find our complete satisfaction? In God! And only in God!
Let us picture to ourselves one of the villages of Galilee in the time of Christ. We are in a narrow alley where we can almost touch the sides of the buildings next to us. We see Jesus coming toward us. His long white garment is shimmering in the morning light. He is walking through the village, surrounded as usual by a motley crowd. He invites us to follow Him, to listen to His words and watch His actions. In our thoughts He wishes us to speak to Him, either with our lips or with the affections of our hearts.
His eyes have just flashed fire, for He has had to say hard things to His enemies who remain obdurate in their sin; further, He has cursed the cities of Corozain and Bethsaida, declaring a more gentle judgment for Sodom than for them.
For His friends He has a different message, a message that delights Him to give and us to receive. He pauses in the center of the alley, stretches out His arms in a comprehensive gesture and bids all who labor to come to Him. Here let us stay and pray a while.
Let us determine to give a fair trial, at least for this one day, to the conditions for happiness that our Lord gives us.
We have trusted many people and accepted their guarantees of happiness. Now let us trust and accept God's guarantee of happiness. Jesus Christ, Who is God, came into a world that was starving for love and He pledged His word -God's word - to give it complete satisfaction. God says: "I will give you rest You shall find rest to your souls In Me you shall find a serenity, a contentment, that will abide even in the midst of material misfortunes. Your joy no man shall take from you."
This is God's guarantee - and many Catholics spend their whole lives repudiating it in practice. "We don't believe You can do it." Satan and the world have been telling their followers all these years that happiness can only be found by following them. We know that Satan is a liar, and the world leads us astray, but we prefer to give them another chance just the same. Life moves on and old age creeps nearer and finally death steals up behind and strikes, and the great disillusionment begins. Even if the sinner does repent, God's precious gift has been squandered. "We fools! We wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity and destruction and have walked through hard ways, but the way of the Lord we have not known."
Several years ago a young American girl called to see a nun. She had all the gifts - beauty, charm culture - and, in the material order, whatever money could buy. She discovered one treasure that no number of dollars could purchase for her. Her father was shocked and horrified when she told him she wanted to be a nun! Was she crazy, wanting to bury herself alive? He sent her out for a vacation and told her to live it up. Go wherever she wanted, do whatever she liked, see whoever she wished and stay as long as was necessary. Only come back home without this silly idea of becoming a nun.
She took the vacation and enjoyed it. Her father asked her, "What will you do next?" "Do?" Why, I'm going to be a nun. There is nothing lasting in the world. Bishop Sheen spoke of a "jaded world seeking fresh thrills." How absolutely correct he was. On the morning she sealed her life of consecration to God she wrote that no words could express her happiness. "You shall find rest to your souls."
We are not all called on to become religious, but we are all called upon to find this happiness that Jesus guarantees us. It can not be found in all the temporary pleasures Satan and the world offers us. It is only to be found in following Him faithfully.
Dear Jesus, Your guarantee of satisfaction could be called the ABC's of the spiritual life. And I have not even yet learned these ABC's. For this one day at least teach me to lean upon You, You only, depending on the guarantee You wish to give me.