Pints With Aquinas - 14: Is it possible for me to be happy?

Episode Date: July 5, 2016

Happiness is the attainment of the Perfect Good. Whoever, therefore, is capable of the Perfect Good can attain Happiness. Now, that man is capable of the Perfect Good, is proved both because his intellect can apprehend the universal and perfect good, and because his will can desire it. And therefore man can attain Happiness. This can be proved again from the fact that man is capable of seeing God, as stated in I, 12, 1: in which vision, as we stated above (Question 3, Article 8) man's perfect Happiness consists. --- A certain participation of Happiness can be had in this life: but perfect and true Happiness cannot be had in this life. This may be seen from a twofold consideration. First, from the general notion of happiness. For since happiness is a "perfect and sufficientgood," it excludes every evil, and fulfils every desire. But in this life every evil cannot be excluded. For this present life is subject to many unavoidable evils; to ignorance on the part of the intellect; to inordinate affection on the part of the appetite, and to many penalties on the part of the body; as Augustine sets forth in De Civ. Dei xix, 4. Likewise neither can the desire for good be satiated in this life. For man naturally desires the good, which he has, to be abiding. Now the goods of the present life pass away; since life itself passes away, which we naturally desire to have, and would wish to hold abidingly, for man naturally shrinks from death. Wherefore it is impossible to have true Happiness in this life. Secondly, from a consideration of the specific nature of Happiness, viz. the vision of the Divine Essence, which man cannot obtain in this life, as was shown in the I, 12, 11. Hence it is evident that none can attain true and perfect Happiness in this life. --- If we speak of imperfect happiness, such as can be had in this life, in this sense it can be lost. This is clear of contemplative happiness, which is lost either by forgetfulness, for instance, when knowledge is lost through sickness; or again by certainoccupations, whereby a man is altogether withdrawn from contemplation. This is also clear of active happiness: since man's will can be changed so as to fall to vicefrom the virtue, in whose act that happiness principally consists. If, however, the virtueremain unimpaired, outward changes can indeed disturb such like happiness, in so far as they hinder many acts of virtue; but they cannot take it away altogether because there still remains an act of virtue, whereby man bears these trials in a praiseworthy manner. And since the happiness of this life can be lost, a circumstance that appears to be contrary to thenature of happiness, therefore did the Philosopher state (Ethic. i, 10) that some are happy in this life, not simply, but "as men," whose nature is subject to change. But if we speak of that perfect Happiness which we await after this life, it must be observed that Origen (Peri Archon. ii, 3), following the error of certain Platonists, held that man can become unhappy after the final Happiness.   ST I-II. Q5. A 2,3,4.     SPONSORS EL Investments: https://www.elinvestments.net/pints Exodus 90: https://exodus90.com/mattfradd/  Hallow: http://hallow.app/mattfradd  STRIVE: https://www.strive21.com/  GIVING Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mattfradd This show (and all the plans we have in store) wouldn't be possible without you. I can't thank those of you who support me enough. Seriously! Thanks for essentially being a co-producer coproducer of the show. LINKS Website: https://pintswithaquinas.com/ Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/matt-fradd FREE 21 Day Detox From Porn Course: https://www.strive21.com/ SOCIAL Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattfradd Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattfradd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattfradd MY BOOKS  Does God Exist: https://www.amazon.com/Does-God-Exist-Socratic-Dialogue-ebook/dp/B081ZGYJW3/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=fradd&qid=1586377974&sr=8-9 Marian Consecration With Aquinas: https://www.amazon.com/Marian-Consecration-Aquinas-Growing-Closer-ebook/dp/B083XRQMTF/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=fradd&qid=1586379026&sr=8-4 The Porn Myth: https://www.ignatius.com/The-Porn-Myth-P1985.aspx CONTACT Book me to speak: https://www.mattfradd.com/speakerrequestform

Welcome to Pints with Aquinas, episode 14. I'm Matt Fradd. If you could sit down with St. Thomas Aquinas over a pint of beer and ask him any one question, what would it be? In today's episode, we'll talk to St. Thomas about happiness. What is it? Do all men desire it? And is it possible to attain it in this life? Welcome back to Pints with Aquinas. This is the show where you and I pull up a barstool next to the angelic doctor to discuss theology and philosophy. And I love the topic of today's podcast concerning happiness, because this is one of those topics that I think very often gets brought up in pubs and bars and nightclubs all over the country, all over the world. There's that old Latin saying, I've forgotten the Latin, but it translated,

it says, where there is wine, there is truth. In other words, when we're not drinking, maybe we put up a front. We want people to see us in this way or in that light. But after a couple of drinks, those kind of defenses might come down and the truth comes out. And so, I know that some of my most awesome evangelistic memories have been of, you know, sharing the gospel with people who are half inebriated at pubs and clubs. Because very often, they want to talk to me about their problems. They want to talk to me about the girl that left them. They want to talk to me about the children that they no longer have a relationship with or how they're addicted to this or that vice and want to be free of it.

And of course, beneath all of this is the concern about happiness. I just want to be happy. And we all want to be happy. This is something we can all agree on. But what do we mean by happiness? And do all men desire it? Yes, they do. We'll see that Thomas talks about that.

And then is it even possible to attain it in this life? So, let's read from the first part of the second part of the Summa Theologica, question five. And this question is on the attainment of happiness. So, let's just begin with this question, whether man can attain happiness. Like, is it actually possible? And in this answer, Thomas will tell us in a sentence what happiness is. Quote, happiness is the attainment of the perfect good. Whoever therefore is capable of the perfect good can attain happiness. Now, that man is capable of the perfect good is proved both because his intellect can apprehend the universal and perfect good and because his will can desire it. And therefore, man can attain

happiness. This can be proved again from the fact that man is capable of seeing God, as stated above, in which vision, as we stated, man's perfect happiness consists. Article three. Okay, so we know that man can attain happiness. He can attain the perfect good, happiness. He can attain the perfect good, but is it possible for him to be happy in this life? Thomas says, quote, a certain participation of happiness can be had in this life, but perfect and true happiness cannot be had in this life. This may be seen from a twofold consideration. First, from the general notion of happiness, for since happiness is a perfect and sufficient good, it excludes every evil and fulfills every desire. Allow me to say that sentence again. Since happiness is a perfect and sufficient good. It excludes every evil and fulfills every desire.

But in this life, every evil cannot be excluded. For this present life is subject to many unavoidable evils, to ignorance on the part of the intellect, to inordinate affection on the part of the appetite and to many penalties on the part of the body. Likewise, neither can the desire for good be satisfied in this life. For man naturally desires the good which he has to be abiding. Now, the goods of the present life pass away since life itself passes away, which we naturally desire to have and would wish to hold abidingly. I think recognizing that we cannot have true and lasting happiness in this life may just be the secret to attaining a great degree of happiness in this life. You see, if this life is all that there is, then you and I will seek to find heaven here on this earth. And we will see anything that annoys us, that's an obstacle to us, that stresses us out, that causes anxiety as something wholly unjust. This is the only life

we've got, right? It needs to be perfect, but it's not going to be perfect. And if this is the only life we have, then that really kind of stinks. I was praying yesterday morning, and I was thinking about some of the things that are going on in my life at the moment. And there's a couple of things that are happening that have been happening for a while that have been keeping me up at night. I'll wake up at two in the morning and wish that I could go back to sleep. Try to offer it to God. And it's funny that when you're not stressing out, when you're not anxious about anything, it's really easy to offer stuff to God. All of a sudden, when you've got some stress or anxiety in your life, you realize that you might not actually know what offering it up to God means.

That's been my case. But yesterday I received this beautiful grace from our Lord because I recognized as much as I don't want to suffer, I don't want anxiety. Even more than that, I don't want to be the sort of person who has no suffering because I know that suffering is conducive to sanctity or can be, it can be with God's grace. So, okay, I don't want to be the kind of person who has just no suffering and no obstacles in my life. And it was as if the Lord said to me, all right, good. So you're okay with suffering. You don't like the sufferings you presently have. Tell me what you would like. And I thought to myself, oh, as I thought about that, you know, what would I say if I could trade

my sufferings for other sufferings? And maybe for you, that would be rather easy, but I know some people are suffering terrible illnesses or financial hardships and things like that. But for me, I thought, oh, gosh, you know, and I started running through the possibilities. Well, would I like one of my children to be seriously ill instead of what I've got going on? No, no, no, no. That's okay. I'm okay. Okay. Well, would I like to have my wife say, lose the faith? Nope, no, no. I wouldn't want that hardship. Well, would I want one of my parents to die instead of the hardships that I'm currently undergoing? No, no, no, no, no. And as I sat there and thought about these things, as much as the current sufferings I'm going through are bothering me, I made a decision to just thank God for my crosses.

And by the way, I hope I'm not coming across as sounding like awesome or holy because I'm not. I'm, you know, exactly like you. I complain, I whine, I kick and scream whenever I experience suffering. Okay. So, this was just a good moment for me that I'm sharing with you. But I found that to be a really cool blessing. I sat there and I thank God for every one of the crosses in my life. So, with this difficult relationship, I said, thank you, Jesus, for this cross. Thank you for this blessing, for this financial burden. Lord Jesus, I thank you for this cross and this burden. Now, when I walked away from prayer, it's not as if I had no anxiety about these hardships, but my attitude had changed somewhat. And I think this is something I'd like to do more often.

Because I think sometimes you and I can think, yeah, I'd like to become a saint and I will become a saint once this and that and this are rectified. Once I can get a good sleep through the night, then I can wake up and pray and then I can start being holy. Or right now, I'm just going through all this kind of financial stress and it's really kind of preoccupying me. I know that'll be over in the next few months. Once that's done, then I can start doing it. Or my car is in the shop right now. So, it's really difficult for me to get to mass. Once the car is good, then I'll start going to mass. And we keep putting off sanctity because of the sufferings and inconveniences in our life. But it's important to remember that happiness is not to be found on earth. It's not to be found in the cessation of stress and

anxiety. First of all, it cannot be found, as St. Thomas says, wholly in this life. So, that's kind of cool because we can recognize okay things aren't massively wrong here this is the way things are supposed to be you and i we there will never be a better time to be holy than now and we have to believe that like you listening to me you have enough people in your life who annoy you to help you become a saint you life who annoy you to help you become a saint. You have enough financial burdens to help you become a saint. You have enough physical ailments, or maybe you know someone or love someone who does to help you become a saint. You have enough vices to struggle against manfully in order, by God's grace, to help you and I become a saint.

in order, by God's grace, to help you and I become a saint. Okay. Whether happiness once had can be lost. Aquinas says, quote, if we speak of imperfect happiness, such as can be had in this life, in this sense, yeah, it can be lost. This is clear of contemplative happiness, which is lost either by forgetfulness, for instance, when knowledge is lost through sickness, or again by certain occupations whereby a man is altogether withdrawn from contemplation. It's also clear of active happiness, since man's will can be changed so as to fall to vice from the virtue in whose act that happiness principally consists. In virtue, in virtue, in virtue. The virtuous man is the happy man. Thomas goes on. If, however, the virtue remain unimpaired, outward changes can indeed disturb such like happiness insofar as they hinder many acts of virtue but

they cannot take it away altogether because there still remains an act of virtue whereby man bears these trials in a praiseworthy manner and since the happiness of this life can be lost a circumstance that appears to be contrary to the nature of happiness, therefore, did the philosopher state, that some are happy in this life, not simply but as men whose nature is subject to change. But, continues Aquinas, if we speak of that perfect happiness which we await after this life, it must be observed that origin, following the error of certain Platonists held that man can become unhappy after the final happiness. But this of course is false and I'm not going to go on to show why that is false. But how cool is that? I mean, that happiness is something we can attain by the will, not perfectly, but to a good degree, and it's secured through virtue. Now, that reminds me of our Lord's words. I think it's in Matthew 6 where He says, seek first the kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be yours as well.

This is something that has really spoken to me lately as I struggle with different things going on in my life. And I know it will be a blessing for you as well. So, regardless of what you're going through here, I'm just going to look up that verse from Matthew 6 here. I think this can help a great deal. So, let's read that from Matthew 6. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore, I tell you, don't be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, or the fact that you don't have like the best yoga pants, or that you can't afford to

go to CrossFit, or that you can't afford to send your kids to the best school, or that you don't have a car that functions 20% of the time. Okay. So maybe I added that, but listen, do not worry about your body. What you shall put on is not life more than food and the body more than clothing. I love, I have to say, that's a question from our Lord. I love that that's a question because it forces us to give him an answer. You know, it's like he's playing silly, you know, playing dumb. He says, is not life more than food? And you have to go, well, yes, obviously it's more than food. And isn't the body worth, isn't the body more than clothing?

Well, yes, yes. And he's like, okay, then chillax. Okay. He says this, our Lord, look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more value than they? There's the question again, and you have to say, well, yes. And which of you, says our blessed Lord, by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. It's ridiculous, isn't it? That you and I refuse to believe that money will not make us happy. By the way, Thomas addresses the question of whether riches will make us happy, whether power will make us happy, of whether riches will make us happy whether power will make us happy whether esteem will make us happy and we're going to devote other podcasts to those topics but let's just touch upon that for a moment we don't believe that money won't bring us happiness we don't believe it no that's ridiculous I will prove you wrong God make me a

millionaire and I will show you but of course you look at the at the celebrities in the tabloids, or maybe you shouldn't, it's pretty depressing, but it's not like these people are walking around with a perfect life. Because why? Maybe we're trying to attain happiness in this life and all that we find is frustration because we cannot find it. It is not to be had perfectly here. All right, so here's what I want to say from our blessed Lord, though. This is the main point that I wanted to get at, okay? So regardless of what you're going through, listen to this, listen to this. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.

Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day. This is what I got from that passage. I read it recently and it hit me like a punch in the face. This idea that, yeah, there's so much stuff that I'm worrying about right now. I shouldn't say so much stuff. There's a few things in my life that are really bothering me. And I end up concentrating all of my attention on them.

And it's as if our Lord is saying, uh-huh, I get it. I get it. But listen, Matthew, seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be yours as well. As if to say, your heavenly father knows that you need these things. Yeah. But seek first the kingdom of God. So, I want to say the same thing to you. I don't know what it is that's worrying you right now. What is it? Think about it just for a moment. And our Lord hears that and he says, okay, seek first the kingdom of God and all this shall be given you. Now, this isn't a wealth or health gospel. I didn't even get that right. Did I? Health

or wealth? I think it is gospel. It's not like, oh, I'm so bothered. I cannot believe that I don't have a Ferrari. Okay. Seek first the kingdom of God and you'll get the Ferrari. Obviously, that's not what I'm talking about. And that's not what our blessed Lord is talking about. But as if our Lord is saying to me, he's saying, Matt, I get that you're stressed about this, out. But as if our Lord is saying to me, he's saying, Matt, I get that you're stressed about this, but love your family. Spend time with your son playing Legos, even though you don't really want to, because you've got other things you want to do. Spend time laying in bed at night with your daughter who wants you to lay with her, even though you want to just go downstairs and do something else. Get to Holy Mass, even though you're telling me that you don't want to. Seek first the kingdom of God. Make that the mental priority. And this

is something we can all do. I don't think we're capable of like separating our mental accounts, you know, in saying, well, I'm going to devote this much mental energy to seeking first kingdom of God now. I don't know if we can make that switch, but I know that we can choose that by our actions, regardless of what our thoughts, you know, might drift towards. And so, it might be the case that our blessed Lord is asking you to struggle with some of these things right now, but you and I can still choose to act for the kingdom of God, to seek the kingdom and His righteousness, and we can trust in our loving Father. I remember I was in San Diego. We used to live there. And I remember going for a surf one night with some really beautiful friends of mine,

Elisa and Chester, if you're listening, you're the beautiful friends I'm talking about. We went surfing and let me tell you, it was like nighttime. Well, it was the sun was setting, huh? And we pulled our cars up and our kids ran out onto the beach and the water was beautiful. And the sky was like this deep red mango color and it was glorious. I was so happy. And I remember just as I felt as happy as I think I've ever been thinking to myself, is this it? It wasn't enough. And that's true of you, isn't it? Like, think about the most exciting, wonderful, ecstatic moment you've had. Maybe it's, you know, when you made love to your husband or your wife. Maybe it's when you were sitting out the back and the sun was shining and the breeze was gentle and your children were playing. Maybe it was praying one morning as you had a sip of coffee and, you know,

you were just at peace. Well, think of that. Isn't it true that it's in those moments that you think to yourself, really, this is it? I mean, don't get me wrong. You're happy in a sense, but you're like, is this it? I have to remind myself so often that I'm like, this is as good as it gets. I'm not actually going to have the fulfillment of happiness in this life. I experienced this when I drink tea. True story. My wife and I went to a secondhand store and it was like an antique shop. We bought this beautiful little teacup and I'm from Australia. We drank tea a lot growing up. I was sitting down, I was having a cup of tea and it was like an antique shop. We bought this beautiful little teacup. And I'm from Australia. We drank tea a lot growing up. I was sitting down.

I was having a cup of tea. And it was the most delightful, wonderful, fantastic cup of tea I've ever had in my life. And I looked down. It was about halfway empty. And I started to feel sad because I knew that it was going to end. Have you had that experience? You go out for dinner. You'll get a meal.

It's gorgeous. So you'll have a chocolate. And it's oh this is so good it was so great and then you want to be happy you want the fulfillment of happiness and so you get like another chocolate and you're like why did i get that one the one was enough well it's because i think you and i so often seek the fulfillment of all our desire in these mutable earthly things, in chocolate, in Cheetos, in whiskey, in sex, in porn, but they won't be had. They won't be had. The fulfillment of all our desires is only going to be found in our blessed Lord. Okay. I think I've spoken enough today. I hope that was a blessing to you. I know this was probably more preaching than reading than we're used to, but I hope it was a help. Please leave me a comment on Twitter. You might send me a message or send me a tweet and let me know what

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