"What is your philosophy of life?"

Everybody has one. Everybody needs one--specifically, the right one. But even if a person doesn't have the right one, he still operates out of one every day. Certain ones have led people to commit the worst and most horrible sins imaginable; others have led people to perform the most extraordinary acts of love and self-sacrifice. Fr. Ray, what are you talking about? I’m talking about "a philosophy of life." Everyone has a philosophy of life, everyone needs a philosophy of life (the right one), and everyone operates out of their particular philosophy of life each and every day--although they may do so unconsciously. When children, for example, reach the age of two, they normally embrace a very definite philosophy of life (much to the chagrin of their mothers and fathers)--although they probably wouldn't be able to articulate their philosophy in so many words. As every parent knows, that philosophy is: "I am the center of the universe. Everything and everyone exists for me, and I want what I want when I want it--if not sooner!" That's what might be called the "terrible twos" philosophy of life.

Certain philosophies of life, as I said a few moments ago, have led people to commit the worst and most horrible sins imaginable--far beyond anything any two year-old might do on his or her worst day. Hitler, for example, had a philosophy of life which stated that the Aryans were the master race and that Jews were non-persons. The dreadful result of that philosophy was Auschwitz and 6 million murdered Jews. Our Holy Father just completed a pastoral visit to Mexico and the United States in which he proclaimed the love and truth of Jesus Christ and inspired millions of people. All of that was the result of his philosophy of life. The pope came here because of his philosophy of life; he spoke the words he spoke because of his philosophy of life, he performed the loving actions he performed because of his philosophy of life. And we should thank God that he did!

What is your philosophy of life? That's an extremely important question. Nowadays, unfortunately, there are many harmful philosophies of life that many people are foolishly buying into. These philosophies are systematically destroying our families, our institutions, and our culture. We have, for example, the "Playboy philosophy of life," which states that the greatest good is pleasure, and that this should be pursued at all costs. That philosophy is embraced by Howard Stern, the people at MTV, and by many others who control the mass media in this country. Then there's the "Kevorkian philosophy of life," which states that suffering can have no positive value and must be avoided, even if you have to kill yourself to do it. (A strange irony there, to be sure!) In this country in recent months we've also seen the birth of another sordid philosophy of life which must be given its proper name: the "Clinton philosophy of life." According to this philosophy, lying, perjury, equivocation and violations of the 6^th commandment are all acceptable--if you can manage to get away with them. Believe me, my brothers and sisters, as a society we have not begun to reap the rotten fruit of this philosophy. In this regard, I don't know how many of you have seen Mark Patinkin's recent columns in the Providence Journal relating to this subject. They were excellent. Patinkin says that he used to be a big supporter of the President, until he began to realize how Mr. Clinton's actions have affected children. He says he's finally been enlightened on the matter by bewildered and frustrated parents--parents who have written letters to him like this one, which came from a man named Peter McVey. McVey wrote,

"My 10-year-old son used the President's actions as an excuse the other day. I asked if he had practiced the trombone. He said, 'yes.' I knew that he had not since I had been home all day, so, I told him 'How could you say that?' He replied, 'You didn't ask me if I had practiced today, only if I had practiced, and I have, just not today.' I asked how he could possibly think his answer acceptable and he replied, 'It's just what the President does on TV. I answered just like he does.' What can you say to that? I said, 'You have to be better than the President. Just because he did it, doesn't make it right."

May God bless Mr. McVey in his efforts to keep his son from embracing a very destructive philosophy of life.

I mention all this today because this morning's Gospel text outlines some of the major tenets of what might be called "the Catholic Christian philosophy of life." We've come to know these as "the Beatitudes," and they make it very clear that the Catholic Christian philosophy of life is a unique and very radical one! Each Beatitude promises us that a certain attitude or activity will lead us to happiness. That's what "blessed" means--it means "happy." But how can you be happy if you're sorrowful? It says there, "Happy are the sorrowful." How is that possible? Or how can you be happy if you're insulted and persecuted and slandered?! From a purely human perspective, it seems impossible and it doesn't make any sense. Right! That's because the Beatitudes are a part of a philosophy that says, "This world isn't the only one there is. We do not have a lasting city on this earth. But if you live these Beatitudes--tough though they might be--you will have happiness. Why? Because you'll be on the road to heaven! You'll be living the way you must live to experience eternal life with Christ--and that will bring you great joy." And so, happy will you be if you are poor in spirit (in other words, if you make God first in your life and put your trust and hope in him); happy will you be if you are sorrowful and experiencing trials--because you'll offer them up in union with the sufferings of Christ and grow in holiness, and you'll draw down many blessings into your own life and into the lives of others); happy will you be if you are meek (in other words, if you humbly accept God's will with serenity and confidence); happy will you be if your first goal in life is to be holy, and not rich or famous; happy will you be if you are merciful and forgiving--unforgiveness won't destroy you, and God will be merciful to you; happy will you be if you are single-hearted and serve God for the right reason and not for selfish motives; happy will you be if you work to establish the peace that Jesus came to this earth to give--peace in your families, peace in your place of employment, peace wherever you happen to be; happy will you be even in the midst of persecution, because you'll realize that you're sharing in the Cross of Christ, which means that in heaven you'll share more fully in the fruits of the Lord's resurrection!