Thursday Evening Highlight

Upon reading Fulton Sheen's You, I get to chapter "How You Are Re-made?" which has a great ending.

Do not fear God with a servile fear, for perfect love casts out such fear. Be bold enough then to believe that God is on your side, even when you forget to be on His. Live your life not by law, but by love. As St. Augustine put: "Love God and then do whatever you please." For if you love God, you will never do anything to hurt Him or break off relationship with Him - and then you will always be happy.

Furthermore- Pope Benedict had stated:

in his homily, to urge the faithful to imitate that trust in God, rather than submitting to "the tyranny of materialism" or "selfish illusions and false ideals." [...]
Economic development is certainly necessary, the Pope said, but "it is high time to place greater emphasis on this: every human being, every tiny human person, however weak, is created in the image and likeness of God."
Trust in God is a formula for hope, the Pontiff said. He reminded Christians: "Africa is called to hope through you and in you." By the witness of Christians, he proclaimed: "Africa can become the continent of hope!"

Do you think the Holy Father's words "tyranny of materialism" is against those who believe in a free market or those who look to government to intercede and save the economy?

Cardinal Fulton Sheen Challenge

The fact is: you want to be perfectly happy, but you are not. Your life has been a series of disappointments, shocks, and disillusionments. How have you reacted to your disappointments? Either you became cynical or else you became religious. If you became cynical, you blamed things rather than yourself. [....] In every instance, you made happiness extrinsic to yourself. No wonder you are never happy. You are chasing mirages until death overtakes you. But cynicism did not work, because in seeking pleasures you missed the joys of life. Pleasure is of the body; joy is of the mind and heart. [....] You can quickly become tired of pleasures, but you never tire of joys. A pleasure can be increased to a point where it ceases to be a pleasure; it may even begin to be a pain if carried beyond a certain point[....]

Furthermore, have you noticed that as your desire for pleasure increased, the satisfaction from the pleasure decreased? Do you think a philosophy of life is right that is based on the law of diminishing returns? (emphasis mine) - Fulton Sheen - Are You Happy?