{"id":2900,"date":"2015-10-28T05:00:44","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T03:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=2900"},"modified":"2015-10-28T03:48:18","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T01:48:18","slug":"why-the-cross-as-focus-it-is-the-only-source-of-true-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=2900","title":{"rendered":"WHY THE CROSS AS FOCUS? IT IS THE ONLY SOURCE OF TRUE HAPPINESS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I looked for happiness outside of God and for too long with resulting unhappiness.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In many entries in the past weeks we have focused on Eugene’s search for happiness in all the areas where it was not to be found.<\/p>\n

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How often in my past life had my wounded, tormented heart taken wings for God from whom it had turned away!<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He recognizes that there had been moments in his past life where he had focused on God, but had not remained there. Perhaps during the recent months of more serious reflection and searching, as he approached Good Friday, he had also wavered in his focus. Now the impulse of the sight of the cross made it all come together in a definitive way:<\/p>\n

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\u2026 my soul took wings for its last end, towards God its only good whose loss it felt so keenly.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The sight of the cross became the jolt he needed for a definitive change of direction. His wounded, tormented heart, like a bird, changed its flight pattern to aim to fly permanently in the direction of God.<\/p>\n

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So I had looked for happiness outside of God, and outside him I found but affliction and disappointment.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Retreat Journal, December 1814, O.W. XV n.130<\/em><\/p>\n

Eugene echoes the famous conversion experience of Augustine. The impulse for Augustine was the voice of a child singing in a garden that led him to the Bible, and to the text of Romans 13: 13-14: \u201cLet us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Eugene, Augustine was able to begin a journey of change that he described so unforgettably in the Confessions:<\/em><\/p>\n

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you!\u00a0 You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you.\u00a0 In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created.\u00a0 You were with me, but I was not with you.\u00a0 Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all.\u00a0 You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness.\u00a0 You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness.\u00a0 You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you.\u00a0 I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more.\u00a0 You touched me, and I burned for your peace.<\/em><\/p>\n

Like Eugene, Augustine, Ignatius Loyola, Teresa of Avila and countless others who have narrated their conversion journeys, each of us has a narrative of searching for true happiness in our lives. It may not have been as dramatic as some of these classic narratives, and it is improbable that we will publish a book about it, BUT when God touched our hearts there was no way that we could resist changing where \u00a0our focus for true happiness is.<\/p>\n

\"200\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cLate have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you!\u00a0 You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you.\u201d St. Augustine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I looked for happiness outside of God and for too long with resulting unhappiness. In many entries in the past weeks we have focused on Eugene’s search for happiness in all the areas where it was not to be found. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[16,83,44],"class_list":["post-2900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retreat-notes","tag-cross","tag-discernment","tag-good-friday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2900\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}