Pope Francis’ Recipe for Happiness
Bloggers sometimes invite others to write a “guest blog.” This week my blog is “written” by Pope Francis and consists of his ten secrets to happiness, which he gave during an interview. His items have been criticized for being too humanist (because they don’t refer to God) and too non-gospel (because one of them discourages proselytizing. What do you think?
Live and let live.
‘The Romans have a saying, which can be taken as a point of reference. They say: ‘Campa e lascia campà’ (Live and let live). That’s the first step to peace and happiness. Move forward and let others do the same.”
Give of yourself to others.
“People need to be open and generous towards others….If you withdraw into yourself, you run the risk of becoming egocentric. And stagnant water becomes putrid.”
“Proceed calmly” in life.
“In Don Segundo Sombra [a novel] there is a very beautiful thing, a man who looks back on his life. He says that in youth he was a rocky stream that carried everything ahead; As an adult, he was a running river, and that in old age, he felt movement, but it was “remansado” [dammed; ie, slowed, quiet]. I would use this image of the poet and novelist Ricardo Güiraldes, the last adjective ‘remansado,’ the ability to move with kindness and humility, calmness of life.”
Enjoy leisure; be available to your family.
“People’s time is swallowed up, so they can’t share it with anyone. Take pleasure in reading, creating art and having fun…Consumerism has brought us anxiety. Even though many parents work long hours, they must set aside time to play with their children; work schedules make it complicated, but you must do it.”
Take Sundays off.
“People nowadays work too hard and miss the chance to enjoy life. Sunday is for family.”
Create jobs for young people.
“I read the other day, but I do not telegraph it as a scientific fact, that there were 75 million young people under the age of 25 unemployed. Youth should be taught skilled work, which would allow them the ‘dignity of bringing home the bacon.’ ”
Protect and respect nature.
“When, for example, you want to make use of a mining method that extracts more than other methods, but it contaminates the water, it doesn’t matter….And so they go on contaminating nature. I think it’s a question that we do not face: humanity, in the indiscriminate use and tyranny over nature, is it committing suicide?”
Don’t be so negative.
“When we talk behind somebody’s back, we are paying attention to the negative, which proves we have low self-esteem: This means, ‘I feel so low that instead of picking myself up I have to cut others down.’ Letting go of negative things quickly is healthy.”
Don’t proselytize; respect the beliefs of others.
“We can inspire others through witness so that one grows together in communicating. But the worst thing of all is religious proselytism, which paralyzes. ‘I am talking with you in order to persuade you.’ No. The church grows by attraction, not proselytizing.”
Work for peace.
“We are living in a time of many wars and ‘the call for peace must be shouted. Peace sometimes gives the impression of being quiet, but it is never quiet, peace is always proactive.”
Short Prayers for Everyday Spirituality
When I entered the convent, a custom prompted us to think of God all day long. Every hour a bell rang over the PA, and we prayed a lengthy ” hour prayer.” This is no longer done, and it has never been done in regular homes as far as I know. Yet, we are still to fulfill St. Paul’s exhortation to “pray always.” How can we do this amidst packing lunches, chauffeuring, cooking, working, and the sundry other things that pack our days and absorb our minds? One trick is to sprinkle short one-line prayers throughout the day. These “arrow prayers” are said to pierce the heavens.
Not only do short prayers serve to keep us mindful of God, they can be powerful. In the Gospels, Jesus brought about miracles with very few words: “Peace, be still” and storms were calmed; “Stand up, take up your mat, and walk” and paralytics were cured; and “Lazarus, come forth” and a dead man walked out of his tomb.
I must admit my most frequent short prayer is “Help.” Others are the short prayers we probably learned in Catholic school, such as “My God, I love you”;”Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on me”; “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours”; and “Jesus, Mary, Joseph.”
We can pray these prayers whenever we think of it or when there is a lull in our activities. Some people use a crutch and associate something with the prayer. For example, after I learned that Thomas Merton was electrocuted by a fan, I began to pray “Jesus, Mary, Joseph” whenever I plugged a cord into an outlet! One woman prays an aspiration whenever she touches a doorknob—not because it’s dangerous, but because it is her chosen cue to say a prayer. Other situations that might call for a short prayer are getting into a car (Angel of God), taking a test or going for an interview (Holy Spirit, inspire me), hearing a siren (God, protect them), or passing a cemetery (Eternal rest . . .).
Nowadays the most popular short prayer is the Jesus Prayer, “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The Catechism states that just the name “Jesus” is a prayer. It’s a beautiful and effective one. By the way, when we hear this name used profanely, we might immediately offer the short prayer, “Praised be the name of Jesus.”
Most of us have the practice of calling on St. Anthony of Padua when we’ve lost something. But we can also speak to other saints during the day, in particular, our patron saint, for example, “St. Catherine, pray for me.”
A lovely prayer is to say “God bless you” and not only when someone sneezes.
What short prayers are part of your life or your family’s life? When do you pray them?
Speaking Up for Jesus’ Sake
The oft-quoted advice of St. Francis is “Preach and if necessary use words.” Sometimes words are very necessary, but we are reluctant to use them. The first time I was invited to speak to catechists at a national convention, I didn’t think I could do it. As an extreme introvert, I needed time to ponder this. Besides, according to a newspaper article, public speaking is the number one human fear. A friend counseled, “If you can teach, you can talk.” I said yes to the invitation. I managed to speak without fainting on the stage, and I continue to speak to audiences. Admittedly, for the first few times before a talk, I was awake all night, filled with dread. I still have nightmares that I’m facing an audience and my prepared talk is missing! Once when Fr. Eugene LaVerdiere was addressing a large audience, his microphone fell to the floor. He remained as cool as a cucumber. Afterwards I commented to him on how comfortable he appeared speaking compared to my stage fright. He said, “Look at it this way. Those people are ready to love you.” This helped. Now speaking has become one of my main ministries, and I actually enjoy it. (more…)
Angels, Guardian Angels, Seraphim, Cherubim and Other Holy Spirits
This week my new book, The Catholic Companion to Angels, will be out. In honor of the occasion, for my blog I am posting the introduction to the book:
A Catholic women’s group once invited me to give a talk on angels. My first reaction was, Why angels when there are far weightier topics the Church should be concerned about today? The women’s request reflected our culture’s fascination with those mysterious creatures, a fascination that some would say borders on angelmania.
We are surrounded by angels in more ways than one. Their representations, ranging from muscular warriors to plump, rosy cherubs, are found just about everywhere. Statues of angels stand in mute adoration in churches, watch over our loved ones’ graves in cemeteries, and entice us in gift shops. (more…)
Praying to God like a Friend
Usually when I’m on retreat as I walk around our province center property, I encounter beautiful works of creation like a blue heron or a deer resting in a field. This past week on the day of our retreat when we were to go outside and enjoy “God’s Playground,” I expected similar treats and hoped to capture them with my camera. As I walked all the way up the hill what did I see? Nothing! Then as I made my way to our cemetery, there on the path was a big, ugly toad basking in the sun. I said to the Lord, who clearly has a sense of humor, “Aw, c’mon! A toad?” Now I felt comfortable speaking this way to God in light of what Pope Francis recently said about praying like Moses: “Say what’s what: ‘Look, Lord, I have this problem in my family, with my child, with this, with that . . . What can you do? Now see here, you can’t leave me like this!’ . . . . And also scold the Lord a little: ‘Hey, you promised me this, and you haven’t done it’ . . . Like that, like you talk with a friend.”
