Several months ago Pope Benedict said that there is a problem today with the individual person creating a false identity for oneself. A cause of this is a culture of materialism and consumerism. A person sees his happiness in what he possesses rather than in his eternal destiny. One can identify himself with wealth, with the power to buy many things and with the freedom to be entertained according to his whims. These things are misleading in that they may cause one to feel satisfaction. But, this is not a real satisfaction; it is temporary. True fulfillment comes from understanding who and what we are. We are not things; we are persons. Each person has a relationship to other persons. Each person, in fact, is called into a relationship with three Persons: God, the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Real satisfaction happens when we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Then, we know God’s enormous love for us. We know that in Christ we are true daughters and sons of the Father and that the Holy Spirit dwells in us.
The path to rediscovering humanity’s true destiny can only be found in the re-establishment of the priority of God in the heart and mind of every person... Only true friendship with God will break the bonds of loneliness from which our fragile humanity suffers and will establish a true and lasting communion with others, a spiritual bond that will readily prompt within us the wish to serve the needs of those we love in Christ. (Address in Rome to bishops from the Philippines on their ad limina visit, Feb. 18, 2011)I pray that more and more come to know Christ’s love for each of us personally. There are many distractions which bring imitations of fulfillment, but not the real thing. We can find meaning only in God and in that which is of Him.
Father Stanley
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