What is Happiness? A Christian Perspective
by CAPP-USA
Catholic Social Teaching (CST) offers a profound framework for understanding how we are to live.
What is happiness? It is loving and serving God and others in imitation of Christ.
Rooted in the principles of human dignity, solidarity, and subsidiarity it guides us toward a life of true fulfillment.
The pursuit of happiness, a universal human longing, is not merely a quest for personal satisfaction but a call to align our lives with God’s truth and love.
This article explores happiness from a Christian perspective, drawing on CST’s insight that authentic human flourishing arises from living in communion with God and others, prioritizing the common good over individualistic desires.
What is Happiness—and How Do We Find It?
Every human being longs for happiness — not just fleeting pleasure. We desire something deeper, something lasting. A joy that endures.
The 17th-century Christian philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal saw this longing as more than emotional. He connected it to life’s most important question: Does God exist?
Pascal believed that our choices—especially about belief in God—shape not only our lives, but our eternal destiny. His famous “wager” is both rational and spiritual:
If God exists, faith leads to eternal happiness. If God doesn’t exist, belief still offers peace, purpose, and moral clarity—with little to lose.
But if we reject God and He does exist, we risk everything.
Pascal’s insight reminds us: faith isn’t a blind leap—it’s a wise wager in the pursuit of true happiness.
The pursuit of happiness, a universal human longing, is not merely a quest for personal satisfaction but a call to align our lives with God’s truth and love.
What Kind of Happiness Are We Really Seeking?
“We all want to live happily”. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1718)
When the rich young man asked Jesus, “What must I do to have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16), he was really asking: How do I find true happiness?
The Church teaches that “Happiness is our human vocation, a goal to which all aspire.” (Pope Francis)
But what kind of happiness are we really looking for?
Not comfort or amusement, but fulfillment through love and truth: “Not some fleeting pleasure… but a happiness definitively found in the one thing that can bring us fulfilment, which is love.” (Pope Francis)
The Illusion of Worldly Happiness
Many seek happiness through possessions, success, or pleasure. But these often leave us empty:
“Our ‘technological society has succeeded in multiplying occasions of pleasure yet has found it very difficult to engender joy’”. (Pope Francis, 7)
Even good things, when pursued to excess, can rob us of joy:
“Excess, lack of control or obsession with a single form of pleasure can end up weakening and tainting that very pleasure” (Pope Francis, 148)
Why Wealth Doesn’t Lead to Joy
The world says wealth brings happiness. But the Church warns otherwise:
“The mere accumulation of goods and services…is not enough for the realization of human happiness.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 28)
“[R]iches do not bring freedom from sorrow and are of no avail for eternal happiness”. (Pope Leo XIII, 22)
The Enemies of Happiness: Envy and Isolation
Envy, isolation, and individualism also poison happiness:
“Envy is a form of sadness provoked by another’s prosperity”. (Pope Francis, 94)
“[I]solation…cannot offer greater peace or happiness”. (Pope Francis, 187)
Can Love Be Misused in the Search for Happiness?
Modern culture distorts love and promises happiness through fleeting pleasure.
Nietzsche famously accused Christianity of having “poisoned eros”. But Pope Benedict XVI answered:
“Eros” isn’t happiness at all, “just fleeting pleasure.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 4)
Real love is sacrificial: “Love” in fact “…becomes renunciation and it is ready, and even willing, for sacrifice.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 6)
The Beatitudes: Jesus’ Roadmap to Lasting Joy
“I want you to be happy in the Lord…I want your happiness.” (Philippians, 4)
Jesus offers a clear path to happiness: the Beatitudes. “The Beatitudes…are the heart of Jesus’ preaching”… responding “to the natural desire for happiness.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1716-1718)
“’Blessed are’ means ‘happy are’.” Christ offers not passing comfort, but eternal joy. As Cardinal Stafford put it: “He founded his Church to bring happiness to all mankind.” (James Francis Cardinal Stafford, Address to the Catenian Association)
“He [Jesus] is the source of man’s happiness.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 9)
“The better we live on this earth, the greater the happiness we will be able to share with our loved ones in heaven.” (Pope Francis, 258)
“I am loved, therefore I exist; and I will live forever in the love that does not disappoint”. (Pope Francis)
How Do We Find True Happiness?
“God…alone is goodness, fullness of life, the final end of human activity, and perfect happiness.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 9)
God placed the desire for happiness in the human heart:
“This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it”. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1718)
“To detach oneself from this truth is to condemn oneself to meaninglessness and unhappiness”. (Pope St. John Paul II, 48)
Christ’s love, shown through the Cross, is the path:
The “Love that comes from the Cross guides and sustains us…reveals truth to us and grants us freedom. And this is the way to happiness.” (Pope Francis)
Bottom Line
The Answer to Our Desire for Happiness
Happiness is not a passing feeling or worldly achievement. It is the fulfillment of our deepest longing—rooted in love, truth, and communion with God.
As Pascal recognized, choosing to believe is not irrational; it is the most rational response to the promise of eternal happiness.
Christ does not call us to less joy—but to more. To a joy the world cannot give—and cannot take away.
“It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.” (Pope St. John Paul II)
If we truly desire lasting happiness, we must turn to its source: the God who made us for Himself, who loves us without measure, and who alone can satisfy the human heart.
Conclusion:
Living Happiness Through Catholic Social Teaching
Catholic Social Teaching provides a roadmap for living out this pursuit of true happiness in the world.
By grounding our actions in human dignity, we recognize that every person is created for eternal joy. Through solidarity, we foster love and communion with
others, countering isolation and envy. Through subsidiarity, we empower individuals and communities to contribute to the common good, ensuring that our
pursuit of happiness uplifts all.
Inspired by Pope St. John Paul II’s vision, we are called to form our consciences with CST and act in the public square to build a society where true happiness—rooted in God’s love—can flourish for all.
