4.2 Wat moet ik doen in mijn leven?
In een tijd waarin burn-outs en depressies tot de orde van de dag behoren, is dit een erg belangrijke vraag. Het antwoord dat we kunnen geven is eigenlijk heel eenvoudig: ons doel als mensen is om gelukkig te worden.
De weg naar werkelijk geluk is alleen te vinden in Jezus: Hij heeft zelf gezegd dat hij de Weg is (Joh 14,6)Joh 14,6: Jezus antwoordde: ‘Ik ben de weg, en de waarheid en het leven. Alleen door Mij heeft men toegang tot de Vader.’. Investeren in je relatie met God is dus een goed idee om ten diepste gelukkig te kunnen worden. Dat geluk zul je vinden doordat God je helpt om te ontdekken wat je het beste in je leven kunt doen.
What is the relationship between the beatitudes and our desire for happiness?
The beatitudes respond to the innate desire for happiness that God has placed in the human heart in order to draw us to himself. God alone can satisfy this desire. [CCCC 361]
Why do we yearn for happiness?
God has placed in our hearts such an infinite desire for happiness that nothing can satisfy it but God himself. All earthly fulfillment gives us only a foretaste of eternal happiness. Above and beyond that, we should be drawn to God. [Youcat 281]
What is freedom and what is it for?
Freedom is the God-given power to be able to act of one’s own accord; a person who is free no longer acts under the influence of someone else.
God created us as free men and wills our freedom so that we might decide wholeheartedly in favor of the good, indeed for the greatest “good”—in other words, for God. The more we do what is good, the freer we become. [Youcat 286]
We, having been called through his Will in Christ Jesus are not justified by ourselves, or by our wisdom or understanding or piety or the works we have done in holiness of heart, but through the faith, by which the almighty God has justified all men from the beginning; to whom be glory for all ages. Amen. What, then, shall we do, brothers? Shall we slacken from doing good and abandon charity? May the Lord never allow this to happen to us, but let us be diligent to accomplish every good work (Tit. 3:1) with earnestness and zeal. [St. Clement of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians, Chap. 32:4 (MG 1, 272)]
