A Distinction with Meaning

On Saturday,  the Holy Father visited the famous Pieta at Etzelsbach (the Germans were famous for their devotional displays of the Pieta, from whence it moved to Italy)  where he gave a brief address to those assembled.  His speech was excellent,  but one line in particular seized my attention.  Benedict said:

     It is not self-fulfilment that truly enables people to flourish, according to the model that modern life so often proposes to us, which can easily turn into a sophisticated form of selfishness.

This is the money quote, as it were.  Benedict completes the thought as follows: " . . . it is an attitude of self-giving directed towards the heart of Mary and hence also towards the heart of the Redeemer."  When it comes down to it, Benedict is referring to the prevailing fault of modernity, and of human nature.  We are meant to be happy, we seek it constantly.  Yet, since the Garden of Eden, we substitute something that we think will bring happiness for that which alone is happiness, the Life of God.  For, what is this modern self-fulfilment, other than the "Non serviam" of Lucifer, of Adam and Eve.  Self-fulfillment becomes the excuse for dodging anything unpleasant: responisbilities, service, having a family, even death itself.  Benedict's words made me sit up and realize that there truly is "nothing new under the sun." Self-fulfilment in it's modern guise is a lie, though certainly part-truth, as all good lies are.  We are meant to be fulfilled and happy, even on a strictly human level; but the self cannot accomplish this.  If modern society tells us one thing, we should look to its opposite to double-check.  We can certainly see that this is so, for self-fulfilment is another name for selfishness whenever it is not based on self-giving.  Ultimately, this self-giving must be directed towards God, which is why we have Our Lady, whose heart is close to her Son's Divine heart. We cannot let the veneer of plausibility, which surrounds the worldly notion of happiness as self-fulfilment, redirect our attention and efforts from the manner in which we can truly achieve happiness. 

-Quaestor (Material found at the blog of Fr. Zulesdorf)