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St Francis day 2010 Who wants to be happy? The universal wish of all humans is to be happy, to find happiness. Who knows how to find happiness? Most people think happiness is the result of specific states : financial status; nice family; good kids; nice house; good job; the perfect partner. However psychological research shows that Happiness is not necessarily due to external circumstances St Francis of Assisi is a case in point: Today we are celebrating the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi in Italy on October 4 He was born (around) 1181 and Died in 1226 As a young man he had every circumstance in his favour. He had a rich daddy that meant he could lead a life of partying and fun times. He was handsome, had the finest clothes and spent money freely. However, Francis found that he was not happy. In spite of his fortunate circumstances, he had a great feeling of discontentment which he could not shake, His lifestyle seemed meaningless and empty. After he fell ill twice, Francis realized that he was wasting precious time. He realized that he lacked a spiritual dimension to his life and so it was that he turned to Christ. One day he was riding his horse when he saw a leper. Instinctively he turned his horse to ride away in the opposite direction. Then it occurred to him that if Jesus saw a leper he would not turn the other way. So he kissed the horrible-looking leper, and gave him money. He found the experience so rewarding that it encouraged him to do more and more for others. He started giving his clothes and money to the poor. He served the sick in hospitals. The more he did the more rewarding he found it to help others and the more encouraged he felt to continue helping others. He further found that helping others drew him closer to God and made him increasingly aware of his own good fortune. His father was unimpressed by this seemingly reckless generosity his son was espousing and decided to take everything away from Francis and to disown him. Francis was undeterred. He put all his trust in God believing that his Father in heaven would provide for all his needs. He said that he was married to "Lady Poverty" and so began his life as a beggar. He travelled the length and breadth of the countryside looking for opportunities to help people and everywhere he went, he begged people to stop sinning and return to God. Many people began to see how close to God this poor man really was, they were amazed at how happy he was living such a simple life and started following in his footsteps. That is how the great Franciscan order of priests and brothers began. They helped the poor and sick and preached everywhere. St. Francis had a great love for all creatures not just for people. He believed all of creation was connected by God’s great love and so regarded the birds and animals as much his brothers and sisters and human beings were. Toward the end of his life, he became very sick. When he came to understand that he was dying, he advised his brothers : · to love God, · to love being poor, · and to obey the Gospel. "I have done my part," he said. "May Jesus teach you to do yours." St Francis of Assisi has been called the happiest of Saints, at the end of his life he had nothing, yet he had everything. The sentence from the Bible for today is : I perceived that there is nothing better for humans than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to humanity. The dictionary defines happiness as:
1.
favoured by circumstances: lucky: fortunate While such definitions may capture the meaning of happiness, the elements giving rise to such a state are what really matter. A few days ago, Claire and I were driving along in the car and she described a psychology lecture she had recently attended as part of her course. The lecturer was an authority in the science of happiness. He identified 5 ingredients for happiness: Gratitude; Kindness; Forgiveness; Better Relationships and Living in the Moment. Claire recounted how the lecturer had given them some strategies for living a happy life: Firstly he said, keep a gratitude journal. This means that each day you write down three things for which you are grateful. Secondly, keep a kindness journal. This means that each day write down three kind things you have done for someone else that day. He conceded that they were probably wondering how these two strategies might make them happy. “Bear with me” he said. “It may sound corny, but the discipline of writing down these three kindnesses and three areas of gratitude each day will over a month or so start to alter your sense of well-being and feed your basic desire for purpose and meaning in your life and this in itself will help to make you feel contented. The wisdom in this advice is based on the understanding that we are happiest when we are grateful for what we are given and sensitive to the needs of others. He said: “True happiness consists in making others happy.” This surely was what Jesus taught and lived and what the Bible teaches also? Now St Francis came to know and understand this and so in spite of his adverse circumstances and hard life, he was able to enjoy a consistent state of happiness in his life. Mostly we know and understand this. It is putting this into practice in a manageable way that we often find difficult. The universal wish of all humans is to be happy. Jesus teaches us that by being grateful for the blessings we receive and by reaching out to the needs of others we will achieve that happiness, which he calls a blessed state. Psychology affirms that happiness is a learnable and achievable mental state. I am suggesting we adopt this practical little exercise to help us on our way. Each night we might like to jot down three things for which we are grateful and three acts of kindness we performed during the day. Let’s not leave our happiness to chance. Let’s be proactive and in doing so we will be following the example of St Francis who after all was simply following the example of Jesus! |
