The True Pursuit of Happiness

Gospel of the Second Sunday of Advent

I – The Pursuit of Happiness

Anyone who takes the time to observe the people around them, or even more distant figures, such as ancestors, historical personages, or celebrities either of today’s worldly context or of times gone by – finds a common denominator guiding all their actions, despite differences in mentality, skills or lifestyle. It is the search for happiness. Yet although everyone, without exception, tirelessly and relentlessly pursues happiness, many people reach the end of their lives without finding it… What is the reason behind these foiled attempts? The problem is that “everyone wants to be happy but not all desire to live in the only way which brings happiness,” ¹ observes St. Augustine. Instead of directing their lives to God, the supreme and ultimate end of man, the only Being Who completely satisfies this longing, many are deluded by the world and end up choosing ways parallel to the true path. They will never be happy, due to the simple fact that they are following a route that does not lead to God.

Some, for example, fall into the money trap. They equate financial security with prestige, power and societal influence, imagining it to be a warranty to a carefree future. Not rarely, however, are the lives of those with many possessions anything but stable and tranquil, especially when they lay up treasure for themselves but are not rich before God (cf. Lk 12:21).

They are consumed with the ambition of accumulating more and more – for “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money” (Eccl 5:10) – and the greater the opulence, the greater is the worry to administrate and safeguard it. For others, science is the illusion. In their quest to resolve questions that baffle the average public, and set in their dream of being lauded for their erudition, they consume their time in studies, research and writings.

They make knowledge their goal in life, forgetting that it is but a God-given means for man to know Him better and to turn to higher reflections. Since human knowledge is limited, it will never satisfy the thirst for happiness of the soul that yearns for the Infinite.

For this reason, many intellectuals, while applauded by the world, end their days in bitterness. These various false paths can sometimes lead not only to frustration but even to the absurd. This can be observed today in people who submit themselves to severe diets to conform to standards of physical beauty imposed by fashion.

Hoping to feel total self-satisfaction with the applause that their exaggerated thinness garners, they scorn both the noble pleasure of a temperate palate as well as their health. In extreme cases, this false path to happiness becomes a shortcut to an untimely end…

Against this backdrop, let us focus our attention on the unique historical figure featured in this Second Sunday of Advent: the Precursor of Our Lord Jesus Christ. What correlation do we find between his message and the pursuit of happiness?

II – The Preaching of John the Baptist

To situate the beginning of the Precursor’s mission chronologically, and to outline the historical context of the Jewish people at that time, St. Luke opens his third chapter by naming the political authorities in Palestine.

The supreme power of the Roman Empire was in the grip of Tiberius, “one of the most notorious universal tyrants of history,” ² for the duplicitous character and vengeful spirit that marked his governance. He created Pontius Pilate procurator of Judea, ³ and in all respects, Pilate proved to be a true representative of the capricious Caesar. The Gospel accounts of Jesus’ condemnation portray the prosecutor as a cowardly and egoistic man, ready to shed innocent blood to protect his own interests. His contemporaries, Philo and Flavius Josephus are even more categorical in delineating his flawed character, declaring him to have stood out for his “disdain for Jewish Law, even though it was recognized by the Romans, as well as for his perfidious cruelty.” ⁴

He used any pretext to violate Mosaic Law, in order to wound Israelite religiosity and nationalism, for he “not only hated his subjects, but also had an overbearing need to show them hatred.” ⁵

The tetrarchs mentioned next, Herod Antipas and Philip, were sons of Herod the Great. Therefore, for the Jews, his government meant the humiliation of double subjection to the Gentiles: the Romans and the Idumeans. For an accurate glimpse of the personality of Antipas, it suffices to recall that the Divine Master gave him the epithet of ‘fox’ (cf. Lk 13:32). The tetrarch’s conduct, after the manner of this cunning animal, was governed by carnal prudence, a vice involving “a deftness in finding the most opportune means of indulging in all manner of disordered concupiscence.” ⁶

His brother Philip, on the contrary, was honoured in his private life and exercised his administrative duties with correctness, so much so that, as a Herodian, he was taken as an exception to the rule. ⁷ As for Abilene, the neighbouring province of Judea ruled by Lysanias, ⁸ a tetrarch of Greek origin, the Evangelist includes it in his report because this territory was part of the “boundaries marked by God to Abraham […] and it was probably inhabited by Jews for the most part, albeit under foreign rule,” ⁹ as Maldonado notes.

Revival of messianic expectations

Since the time of Herod the Great, pontifices were instituted and deposed at the whim of emperors or local political authorities, and corrupt negotiations behind each nomination were the norm. This moral decay of Judaism worsened with Annas, who constituted a family organization allied to the Roman and Herodian power.

By fraudulent means, he eventually gained control of the entire Israelite establishment. At the historic moment described by the Evangelist, this individual position of high priest was occupied by Caiaphas, son-in-law of Annas. But St. Luke names both, because Annas, deposed years earlier, still exerted such influence that his word was equivalent to the voice of the official high priest. ¹⁰

This deplorable religious situation coupled with political oppression affected the people and resulted in generalized impoverishment. Weighed down by taxes, even their own Jewish customs languished under the influence of Roman paganism. Not for a moment, however, did the Israelites lose hope of the Messiah promised by God to the patriarchs and announced by the prophets.

He would come “to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” (Is 61:1), and would appear at a time of desolation for the Jewish nation. Therefore, the worsening of the situation favoured the imminent realization of the messianic promise. However, the erroneous interpretation of the prophecies led the Jews to envision the Saviour as a national hero who would deliver them from Roman rule – considered the principal evil from which sprang all of Israel’s other misfortunes – and afford them political invincibility, social and financial projection, and supremacy over all nations on earth.

In this unique climate, combining dismay and expectation, a new prophet arose before the Chosen People.

A Precursor equal to his mission?

Due to the several extraordinary events related to the birth of John the Baptist (cf. Lk 1:5-25; 57-66), news of him had spread “through all the hill country of Judea” (Lk 1:65), raising popular admiration. Despite this celebrated beginning, there succeeded years of complete disappearance from the eyes of the world. Detaching himself from society, John “lived in the wilderness until the day he stood before Israel” (Lk 1:80).

This region corresponds to a desert wasteland, almost completely uninhabited, between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, stretching from the west bank of the latter to the edge of the fertile lands of Judea. There the child grew and became strong in spirit (cf. Lk 1:80) by practising strict asceticism, dressing in camel hair and eating locusts and wild honey (cf. Mk 1:6; Mt 3:4), until he reached about thirty years of age, ¹¹ when he began to exercise his ministry. This lifestyle prompts us to envision him as “a deeply recollected man, with great delicacy of soul and extreme modesty, so absorbed in God as to give the impression of it costing him an effort to leave his contemplation.” ¹²

At first glance, such mysterious austerity may seem to be the extreme opposite of the infinite glory of the Incarnate Word, of Whom John was the Precursor. Just as the Infant God’s appearance in the world was announced to the shepherds by an Angel refulgent with light (cf. Lk 2:9) and to the Magi by the star that led them to Bethlehem (cf. Mt 2:1-12), one would expect the commencement of His public life to also be preceded by similar appearances or extraordinary phenomena of nature. Quite different, however, was the announcement made by John the Baptist, for his grandeur was not ostentatious. “His authority came to him more from his purity which was beyond this earth, and from his majestic grace that made him stand out in the eyes of the people as a man above the rest of mankind, delegated to censure and rebuke, it is true, but also invested with a mission of ineffable mercy.” ¹³

The essence of true greatness

Among other reasons, God acted in this way so as not to deprive the Jews of the possibility of acquiring the merit of faith, believing in the divinity of Jesus when they saw Him personally. Indeed, if the outward appearances of the herald of Christ corresponded to the ceremonial honours paid to the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity by the heavenly court, the state of trial concerning the mystery of the Incarnation would have been eliminated for Our Lord’s contemporaries.

The overwhelming evidence of the splendid appearance of John the Baptist would have sufficed to conclude that the Master he announced was God Himself.

On the other hand, Providence desired to teach us that man’s true value is interior, although the world often overlooks this. It was not from among Israel’s religious or political leaders, whose names open today’s Gospel, that God chose His Forerunner. The one chosen for this mission of unmatched historical importance was a man sui generis within the customs of the time – without social prestige. His supernatural excellence, however, made him exceed all men in grandeur, as Jesus Himself said: “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist” (Mt 11:11). Therefore, as is typical of divine action, in this instance, too, Providence chose what was best. Christ’s Announcer possessed the noblest of qualifications: he was sanctified while still in his mother’s womb, filled with the Holy Spirit, and therefore was “great before the Lord” (Lk 1:15).

With this, St. John the Baptist is also an example of how, for God, a person’s worth is determined more by what he is than by what he does. Our outward actions yield us more supernatural merit by the inner disposition that motivates them, than by the effort spent in performing them.

A supreme model of this is the Blessed Virgin, whose love for God and fervent intention made Her give “more glory to God by her smallest actions – for example, twirling her distaff or stitching – than St. Lawrence on the grid-iron, during his cruel martyrdom, and likewise in relation to the most heroic deeds of all the saints,” ¹⁴ teaches St. Louis de Montfort.

Symbolism of the desert

Besides referring to the place where St. John lived and received the revelation, the ‘desert’ can be interpreted symbolically. As the region was uninhabited, the Forerunner was also free from material attachments and worldly pretensions, empty of self. The desert is a beautiful image of a soul ready to receive Jesus worthily and participate in the Kingdom of God, stripped of manias and egoistic whims, far from the materialism that reigns the world over, and free from vanities and ambitions.

A baptism of penance

In contrast with the ancient prophets, John the Baptist did not go to the cities or the public places where people usually gathered. Walking through the harsh wilderness near the Jordan River, he began to preach to those he met in those places – who were certainly very few. The impact of his persona and the vigour of his message reverberated rapidly, and soon “there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem” (Mk 1:5). That once lonely region began to throng with Jews seeking in this prophet the dawn of Israel’s long awaited religious and moral regeneration.

Many even harboured an inner speculation full of hope: could John not be the Messiah Himself? So the Precursor, discerning thoughts and hearts, and responding to outright questions, interspersed his exhortations to penance with statements that did away with misconceptions regarding himself: “I baptize you with water; but He Who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of Whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” (Lk 3:16).

If He Who was to come would far surpass the admirable and captivating John the Baptist, then it was imperative to prepare to receive Him.

In view of this great event, many Jews received the “baptism of repentance.” This, however, did not confer grace to the soul, ¹⁵ as did the Sacrament of Baptism later instituted by Christ, for it was only a symbol that consolidated the shift in mentality that John urged. It was a sensible proof of the desire to be spiritually purified, through penance, in order to participate in the imminent Kingdom of God.

Highly symbolic preaching

These words of Isaiah, which foretold the end of the Babylonian exile of the Jewish people and the return to Palestine, had passed through the centuries as a sign of comfort and forgiveness. From the mouth of the Precursor, however, the same message took on a penitential character, penetrating deep into consciences and moving them to conversion.

It is important to remember that the preaching of John the Baptist was not directed merely to those who had the good fortune of living at the time of Jesus.

As St. Bernard teaches, the coming of Our Lord into the world can be divided into three stages, the first of which corresponds to His mortal life and the last of which is the Judgment after the end of the world when He will come in His glorious body. The middle stage, then, is daily, when He comes to each of us, by His grace. ¹⁶ Jesus calls us at every moment, in the most varied circumstances of life, making it necessary to always be ready to receive Him.

As those Jews who flocked to the banks of the Jordan, we must also produce “fruits of true repentance” (Mt 3:8), putting into practice the admonitions of the Precursor. First, he calls to straighten the ways by which the Lord will soon pass.

He is obviously not suggesting a renovation of the Palestinian roadways. All his preaching had a highly symbolic meaning and should be interpreted through a supernatural prism. This counsel is an appeal to eliminate the deviations that are established in the soul when it wants to combine the worship of God with egoism. Those who do not combat their personal defects or progress in perfection eventually enter the tortuous paths of vices that draw away from the good, without, however, wanting to abandon it entirely. Sooner or later, the dynamism of evil ends up stifling the fragile adherence to virtue, and the soul falls completely into the ways of sin.

It is timely, during Advent, to pause for a moment in our spiritual journey, draw back from worldly agitation, and examine our conscience to see if we are not, in some point, making twisted paths in our lives. Let us take the firm resolution to straighten them, seeking full coherence between our conduct and the Faith, which is summed up in the perfect fulfillment of the Commandments of God.

Eliminating mediocrity and pride

Man, called to live in keeping with his dignity as a child of God and to keep his sights always trained on the elevated horizons of Faith, often turns away from this superior plane to focus on concrete things, to worry excessively about material goods and earthly banalities. This pettiness makes him forget the fleetingness of life, undervalue eternity and live as if the Creator did not exist.

The soul thus forms valleys of the absence of God. Conversely, there are also hills and mountains in the spiritual life. These are the risings of unbridled self-love, manifested in manifold ways.

For example, in the desire to draw others’ attention to real or supposed personal qualities, striving to stand out above the crowd. In addition to filling in the valleys of a materialistic mediocrity, we must smooth out these prominences of pride.

It is interesting to observe here a detail of the Gospel text since, in this verse, the Forerunner does not command, as previously, but affirms: the valleys shall be filled, and the mountains and hills brought low. With Our Lord’s coming to the world, the Sacraments – effective means for interior reform – were made available to mankind. Imparting grace to the soul, they mend the unevenness that stands in the way of perfection and that hinders spiritual progress. As St. Cyril comments, “When the God-Man destroyed sin in His flesh, every path was made plain and became easy to walk upon, there being no mountains or valleys that stood in the way of whoever wished to progress.” ¹⁷ It is up to us to make the effort to unite ourselves to this divine aid, with the awareness that each step, no matter how small, is obtained through God’s grace and not mere exertion.

Rationalizations; twisted passages of conscience

Rationalizations – those false reasons elaborated by man to justify his faults – are subtle deviations in the spiritual life, because they conceal the inconsistency of error with the solid appearance of truth. These dishonest subterfuges are like twisted passages down which the sinner flees when he comes up against the intrusive protest of the conscience, warning him of the harm he intends to do or reproaching him for faults already committed.

These evasions hold man on the irregular paths of sin. The virtue of uprightness is needed to eliminate these dangerous irregularities in the terrain. Uprightness makes the person fully realize his own weakness and wickedness, and acknowledge himself as a sinner, in need of supernatural protection to avoid capsizing into temptation. But the deciding factor is, once again, divine action, which alerts man to the horror of sin and the understanding that God knows all, even the most intimate thoughts and intentions of the heart.

God should be at the centre of man’s life

These final words are very accurate, not only signifying the universality of the mission of Our Lord, but also man’s position in relation to Him, free to accept Him or reject Him, and as a result, to attain eternal salvation or damnation. This is why John did not say that everyone will be saved, but rather that all shall see salvation, for as Fr. Duquesne comments: “The Saviour, sent by God, came to all men, and was announced to all men; not all, however, recognized and followed Him. But the day will come when all will see His as their Judge.” ¹⁸

Finally, returning to the problem of happiness, to which we referred at the beginning, we may see the conversion preached by the Precursor as a secure beacon illuminating the path to achieving success in search of this treasure desired by all. For the objective of each of his teachings may be reduced to one thing: basing life on God rather than self.

III – God Will Lead Us until the End

In showing us the close relationship between conversion and happiness, the Gospel of this Second Sunday of Advent challenges each of us individually. On one hand, we see the need to practising the admonitions of St. John the Baptist, to spiritually reform ourselves. On the other, the consequences of original sin and our actual sins weigh upon us, and we know that we are unable to effect an interior reform without the power of God’s grace. For without it, we cannot even do worthy penance for our sins! It is the challenge of holiness, which every Christian faces. We must not slacken halfway, but believe with strong faith that He Who has begun this good work in us, will bring it to its completion, as St. Paul writes to the Philippians in the passage chosen for this Sunday’s reading (Phil 1: 6). This work begins with Baptism, when God introduces grace into the soul, making it participate in the divine life. Confided to us as a seed, it must develop throughout our existence, “to achieve in each of us the fullness that matches the level of our predestination in Christ.” ¹⁹ There are obstacles, however, that prevent this development…They are the hills, valleys and other impediments set up by man himself on the terrain of his soul where grace should grow. The desire to remove those obstacles, using every means in our power to eliminate them and, especially, confidence in Divine Omnipotence are the contributions that Providence expects of us in this work of perfection, whose Author and concluder is God Himself.

As a spur to our hope, we turn to Mary, Help of Christians, asking for Her to continually intercede for us before her Divine Son. All gifts that we receive come to us through her mediation. However, “She cannot be the Lady of unfinished works. She is the Lady of finished constructions, of great works carried to term,” ²⁰ Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, devoutly proclaims. It is up to us to surrender to Mary’s maternal care, certain that She herself will take full charge of conducting this bold endeavour of making us perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect (cf. Mt 5: 48). ◊

 

Notes

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¹ ST. AUGUSTINE. De Trinitate, L.XIII, c.4, n.7. In: Obras, vol. V. Madrid: BAC, 1956, p.712.

² WEISS, Juan Bautista. Historia Universal, vol. III. Barcelona: La Educación, 1927, p.661.

³ According to historians, Herod the Great left consigned in his will that after his death, Palestine be divided between his three sons. This was done: Judea, Samaria and Idumea were given to Archelaus; Herod Antipas received Galilee and Perea; and the lands situated to the north of the Transjordan went to Philip. Accused of tyranny, Archelaus was deposed by Caesar Augustus and his territory was subjugated to the government of Syria. From then on, the emperors named procurators who were established in Judea and exercised their authority in the whole province (cf. RICCIOTTI, Jose. Historia de Israel, vol. II. Buenos Aires: Excelsa [s.d.], p.412-413; SCHUSTER, Ignacio; HOLZAMMER, Juan B. Historia Bíblica, vol. II. Barcelona: Litúrgica Española, 1935, p.76).

⁴ SCHUSTER; HOLZAMMER, op. cit., p.132, note 1.

⁵ RICCIOTTI, op. cit., p.430.

⁶ ROYO MARÍN, OP, Antonio. Teología Moral para Seglares, vol. I. Madrid: BAC, 1996, p.421.

⁷ Cf. RICCIOTTI, op. cit., p.414.

⁸ This detail in St. Luke’s Gospel has long been the cause of multiple disputes, due to lack of historical substantiation. The Evangelist’s mention of Lysanias (14-37) as a contemporary of Trachonitis was considered to be an inaccuracy, since there is evidence that King Lysanias was killed before the constitution of the Roman Empire, victim of a scheme of Cleopatra and Antony (cf. FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS. Antiquities of the Jews. L.XV, c.4). The polemics ended, however, with evidence brought to light after excavations in the region revealed writings from that era which coincide with the Gospel. Based on these inscriptions, it was concluded that St. Luke referred to another Lysanias, ruler of the ancient kingdom of Chalcis, which was transformed into a tetrarchy, and named Abilene.

⁹ MALDONADO, SJ, Juan de. Comentarios a los Cuatro Evangelios, vol. II: Evangelios de San Marcos y San Lucas. Madrid: BAC, 1951, p.445.

¹⁰ Cf. SCHUSTER; HOLZAMMER, op. cit., p.132; FERNÁNDEZ TRUYOLS, SJ, Andrés. Vida de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo. (Ed. 2). Madrid: BAC, 1954, p.621-622.

¹¹ Cf. MALDONADO, op. cit., p.442.

¹² COLERIDGE, SJ, Henry James. La Prédication de St. Jean Baptiste. Paris: P. Lethielleux, 1890, p.14-15.

¹³ Idem, p.15.

¹⁴ ST. LOUIS GRIGNION DE MONTFORT. Traité de la vraie Dévotion à la Sainte Vierge, n.222. In: Œuvres Complètes. Paris: Du Seuil, 1966, p.638.

¹⁵ Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Summa Theologiae, III, q.38, a.3.

¹⁶ Cf. ST. BERNARD. Sermones de Tempore: In Adventu Domini, Sermo V. In: Obras Completas, vol. I. Madrid: BAC, 1953, p.177.

¹⁷ ST. CYRIL, apud ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Catena Aurea. In Lucam, c.III, v.3-6.

¹⁸ DUQUESNE. L’Évangile Médité, vol. I. Paris: Victor Lecoffre, 1904, p.115.

¹⁹ ROYO MARÍN, OP, Antonio. Somos Hijos de Dios. Madrid: BAC, 1977, p.91.

²⁰ CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Conference. São Paulo, June 14, 1995.