God Is the Source of Happiness and Hope

Jesus reminds us today that we can’t serve two masters; we can’t serve God and mammon. The word “mammon” comes from the Greek word for material goods and possessions. What does Jesus mean by this radical statement? Is he saying that money and material things are evil? No. God created the material world, and so it’s good, beautiful and filled with his glory.

So what does he mean? The key is found in the word “serve.” Serving someone means putting our hope in that person. Jesus describes what life is like when we put our hope in the things of this world: it’s full of worry and stress about bank accounts, reputations, careers, health, the future. Material things are intrinsically unstable; they come and they go. So when we hope in them, we, too, become unstable.

But when we put our hope in God we are freed from worldly anxiety, and gradually experience deep interior peace, balance and fruitful and creative work. God is both our all-powerful Lord and our all-loving Father. And so it makes sense to hope in him more than in our material things. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,” Jesus tells us, “and all these things will be given to you as well.” This is the great formula for exercising the virtue of hope.
 

St Josephine Bakhita

Pope Benedict reminds us that “A world without God is a world without hope.” To illustrate our need for hope, he tells the story of St Josephine Bakhita, whose spiritual journey is an amazing example of profound hope in God.

She was just nine years old when African slave traders kidnapped her. Constantly beaten and sold five times in the slave markets of Sudan, she was eventually sold to an African general who flogged her every day. From these floggings she bore 144 scars throughout her life.

Finally, in 1882, she was bought by an Italian ambassador who brought her to Venice. Up until then she had known only masters who despised and maltreated her. It was in Venice where she heard about another Master, Jesus Christ. She learned about his unlimited goodness and love. She learned that this master had himself accepted floggings, and now he was waiting for her “at the Father’s right hand.”

Now, at last, she had hope. Not just the hope of finding a master who would be less cruel, but the great hope of God’s unending love. “I am definitively loved,” she said. “And so my life is good.” The knowledge of this hope redeemed her: no longer a slave, she became a free child of God. Eventually she gained her freedom, was baptized, and became a nun. This experience of hope is what Christ wants to give to each and every one of us.
 

Three Ways to Seek His Kingdom First

What does it mean to “seek his Kingdom first”? Basically, it means three things.

First, obey God’s commandments. In the Our Father, we pray, “Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done...” Remember, Jesus is the King, and so those who dwell in and benefit from his Kingdom should obey his laws.

Second, seeking Christ’s Kingdom means constantly striving to get to know Jesus better and better through prayer and meditation. Jesus is a unique King, because he longs for his subjects’ friendship; he wants to be part of our lives.

Third, being aware of opportunities to bring others closer to Christ. This isn’t as hard as it sounds. We just need to remember that God is the real source of happiness. And then, since we want those around us to find the path to happiness, too, it will be natural to give them the hope that will bring them closer to God.

This Wednesday we begin the beautiful season of Lent. It will be a time for us to renew once again our commitment to God and to his kingdom. Make it your goal to exercise the great virtue of hope throughout these 40 days.